BANGOR – The school board is considering a $36.3 million budget that calls for expanding the pilot program for 4-year-olds and upgrading math and science curriculum for elementary grades.

Proposed by Superintendent Robert Ervin on Monday, the 2005-2006 draft budget is 4.74 percent, or $1.6 million, higher than the current year, due primarily to skyrocketing health insurance and energy expenses.

But the local costs will be 4.28 percent lower than this year because Bangor receives $2 million more in state aid under the new education funding formula called Essential Programs and Services.

The additional funds will be used to pass on $884,000 in property tax relief, Ervin said.

Pointing out that there are hardly any new programs in his proposed plan, the superintendent called it a “maintenance budget.”

Still, it jibes with the school department’s mission to provide a high-quality education for the 21st century, said Ervin.

“It’s what the people of Bangor expect,” he said.

Energy costs are “the big hitter this year,” the superintendent said. An additional $525,000 is needed for rising electrical, diesel fuel and fuel oil expenses. Insurance costs are up $600,000, he said.

Salaries will be fairly level because 10 teachers are leaving and will not be replaced since student numbers in the lower grades are dropping, according to Ervin.

School board member James Cox lamented that so much of the budget must go toward huge increases in “overhead.”

“It’s unfortunate that so much of what we could do is getting sucked up in maintaining the status quo,” he said.

He commended Ervin for his “foresight” in expanding the pilot program for 4-year-olds to accommodate 120 children – double its current enrollment.

Chairman Martha Newman agreed that the money is well-spent. Research shows that attending to children’s academic needs when they are young eliminates the need to provide more expensive services later on, she said.

Upgrading math and science textbooks for kindergarten through grade five is vital since some were published 15 years ago, said Ervin.

Explaining the reason for the additional $2 million in state funds, the superintendent said Bangor “fits remarkably well” in the Essential Programs and Services model. The money isn’t a windfall, “but simply the intended shift from local appropriation to greater state support,” he said.

While the funds provide some tax relief, the bulk must go toward covering the increasing costs of education, he said.

The goal of the new funding formula is to provide students with the resources to meet the state’s academic standards. But school board member Phyllis Shubert said it provides only “subsistence” level funding. Its allocations are based on obsolete figures that don’t take into account increased energy and health insurance costs, she said.