HOULTON, Maine — Anticipating another lean budget during 2009-10, the SAD 29 board agreed during a meeting earlier this week to put a freeze on all nonessential spending for the rest of the school year.
The decision took effect immediately.
“I am really looking at the budget with a higher level of scrutiny,” SAD 29 Superintendent Steve Fitzpatrick said Thursday. “I want to carry as much money over into the next school year as I can. I do not expect we will be seeing a great deal of additional funding from the state [Department of Education] for the next school year, so I think that this is something that needs to be done.”
Fitzpatrick said all areas of the budget will be looked at, which means school field trips could be curtailed and teacher requests could be put on the back burner.
“But we will be exploring other options,” said the superintendent. “If there is something we can get outside funding for, or tap into other resources to do, we will do it. This is something that will be looked at on a daily basis.”
He said the school board was supportive of the freeze.
“Everyone knows that these are challenging times, and I think that everyone is experiencing the same thing,“ Fitzpatrick said. “The administration here also has decided to maintain a freeze on our own salaries. I think everyone is trying to do their part here as we move forward.
“The more we save, the less we have to raise in the future,” he added.