SAD 34 battles to win voters’ hearts and minds

BELFAST – School board members – the remaining ones, that is – must have been stunned.

Many of the 50 or so people attending Thursday night’s budget hearing were clapping, but it wasn’t in agreement with yet another stinging denouncement by a resident of the board’s handling of the six-month-long budget debacle.

They were applauding the board’s efforts, and those of interim Assistant Superintendent Bruce Mailloux, acknowledging the hard work, the difficult position the board and officials find themselves in, and the professionalism with which they conducted themselves at the hearing.

Could this have been a turning point in the war that developed between the public and school officials over the $800,000 budget shortfall? Or was it that people were just in a good mood after a holiday weekend?

A lot has changed in the last few weeks.

The board’s third and final proposal to close the budget gap – seeking voter approval to spend $550,000 from a Medicaid overpayment – was shot down in a districtwide meeting May 16, with 533 opposing the plan and 404 in favor.

The board seemed to wave the white flag on a bailout, and instead laid off 130 hourly employees and agreed to close school on June 9, a week early. The final payroll of the year, on June 23, will not be made in full.

And there have been some key personnel changes.

Superintendent Bob Young, out on medical leave since December, is back in the office, though not every day. He did not attend Thursday night’s meeting. It’s not clear whether the board will try to fire Young, as some board members have said they intended, or whether Young will resign at the end of the school year or work through June 30, 2007, when his contract expires.

Assistant Superintendent Al Pfeiffer, who had been in charge in Young’s absence, worked his last day on Thursday, and will take over as SAD 5’s new superintendent July 1.

Board chairman Kirk Moore and member Chris Dunn, who recently had been chairman of the finance committee, both resigned, as have three other Belfast representatives to the board. Moore, who succeeded Al Douglas, who quit in April, was a polarizing figure; some of those who criticized the board’s handling of the budget crisis said he treated them rudely and dismissively.

But perhaps the most significant change has come with Belfast Area High School Assistant Principal Bruce Mailloux now taking the additional role – at no additional salary – of interim assistant superintendent.

At the hearing, Mailloux used a PowerPoint presentation projected on a screen to outline the process by which the board and administrators arrived at their $22.5 million budget proposal, up $2 million over the current year. The presentation was clear and concise, several people said. It revealed, Mailloux said, how many of the increased costs were beyond the control of the district.

Those included: $800,000 to pay off the bills from this year’s shortfall; increasing the contingency account from $25,000 to $400,000 as recommended by the district’s auditor; contracted salary increases of $188,000, even though teachers agreed to not seek a cost-of-living increase; and a $410,000 increase in the cost of medical insurance premiums for employees.

To keep the budget at a $2 million increase, 33.5 positions were cut, Mailloux said, and the nonpersonnel instructional budget was reduced $449,000 below the current year’s levels.

Though the total budget has grown from $16.4 million in 2001-02, he said state funding to SAD 34 has remained steady.

Resident Al LaCivita encouraged those at the hearing to also attend a meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast, to be hosted by Sen. Carol Weston, R-Montville, at which representatives of state departments will be present. LaCivita said legislators should be held responsible for not bringing more state funding to the district.

Mailloux was alternately understanding of taxpayer angst and unapologetic about the cost of educating the area’s youth, and threw in a little humor from time to time. As a life-long resident of the area and long-time small-business owner, Mailloux was able to call on residents by their first name, which may have further created a nonconfrontational atmosphere.

Among the questions and comments fielded were:

. Diana Hyk of Belfast noted that student enrollment is down in the district, and is expected to continue to drop, and suggested spending should also drop.

. Charlotte Peters of Belfast asked if the health insurance benefit offered to teachers and staff covered dependents at no cost. The benefit does come at a cost to the employee, she was told.

. Though the co-curricular portion of the budget – covering sports, music and drama stipends and costs – will be a separate article on the June 13 referendum, it represents cuts to the programs, high school Principal Butch Arthers said. He added that the district’s booster club raises about $10,000 annually to assist with program sports costs.

. Former teacher Minnie Payson observed that state mandates for special education students have increased since she left teaching, accounting for a substantial increase in costs. Mailloux added that federal No Child Left Behind and the Maine Learning Results programs also added costs.

. Ed Greeley of Morrill encouraged officials to tighten its transportation operation, rather than have buses idling and duplicating runs. He also urged the district to purchase supplies at discount retailers.

. A woman urged the board to remember that some people may lose their homes because they are unable to pay the property tax increases tied to the school budget.

Though some goodwill was evident at the hearing, many predict the budget will be defeated at the polls June 13, sending the board back to work on more cuts.