CAMDEN – SAD 28’s Curriculum Committee heard about 100 teachers, parents and school supporters sing the praises of the district’s industrial technology, language, arts and music programs at a meeting Thursday afternoon.

But board members and administrators on the committee, who are trying to winnow a budget increase for next year from 7.4 percent to 5 percent, said they, too, regret the cuts, but worry about the budget passing voter muster at the polls in June.

The board wanted to limit its proposed budget to a 5 percent increase over the current year’s spending. Board Chairwoman Lynn Johnson said contracted salary increases already account for 4.2 percent of the increase, and an additional 1.8 percent will go toward paying off the debt incurred with the purchase of the former Montessori school last year.

The committee was charged with reviewing, from a curriculum perspective, cuts proposed by the Finance Committee. Those cuts include:

. A K-4 Spanish program.

. A two-thirds day kindergarten class.

. Horizons Arts for K-2.

. Industrial technology for grades six through eight.

. Family Consumer Science for grades five through eight.

. General music for grades six through eight.

“The hallmark of our district has been those extras,” Johnson said. “It’s been a difficult process.”

While she believed those gathered in the middle school cafeteria supported spending on education, many in the community want to see a leaner budget, Johnson said.

“I have been hearing from people on the phone that there is no way they will support a 7 percent [higher] budget,” she said.

Johnson said she wanted to be able to reply to those in the community who asked about programs, saying, “We talked about that, and we support it because …”

Teachers and parents rose to speak in support of each program under consideration for cuts at the meeting. No one spoke in support of the proposed cuts.

The K-4 Spanish program now consists of three, 20-minute sessions each week. The proposal is to eliminate one of the sessions so the teacher can fill in at the eighth-grade level, thereby saving the district $10,000.

Spanish teachers and others said the three weekly sessions in the lower grades help pave the way for students to succeed at higher grades. Teachers said the Spanish classes in the higher grades are in high demand among students.

The proposed kindergarten cut would change a class that is now two-thirds of a day to a half-day, saving the district $16,000.

Rockport Elementary School Principal Jan Staples said she opposed the cut. Because so much time is used at the kindergarten level for bathroom breaks and in preparing children to leave, Staples said too much instructional time would be lost by cutting the day. Parents echoed that observation.

The Horizon Arts program is an enrichment class offered to K-2 children. Assistant Superintendent Mike Weatherwax said the district does not receive any reimbursement for the program for those grades, though it does for the higher grades. Cutting the program would save about $10,700, he said.

Since middle school industrial technology teacher Carlos Mendrano is retiring at the end of the year, Weatherwax said the district saw a potential for savings.

“We looked at this [and thought], there’s a position we cannot fill,” he said.

This proposed cut drew the most impassioned opposition, with parents, teachers and others speaking against it.

Peter Hall of Rockport, a selectman in that town who tutors part-time, said classes such as industrial technology are cited by students as reasons they like school.

“I think you’re making a real mistake,” he said. “This makes them want to go to school.”

Family Consumer Science for grades 5-8 was also enthusiastically supported by teachers, parents and a sixth-grade student. The program has expanded, said teacher Kathy Wilcox, so that it now addresses issues relating to eating disorders, obesity and parenting.

The general music class, which exposes students who do not play instruments or sing in the chorus to music, was also supported.

Johnson said the committee will forward its findings to the Finance Committee which meets at 7:30 a.m. Monday, April 11. The SAD 28 board will consider the cuts at its meeting tentatively scheduled for April 27.