BREWER, Maine — Even though school started only a few weeks ago, school leaders — already worried about next year’s budget — this week froze all nonessential spending.
“To help avert a loss of programs and personnel next year, we must take action now,” Superintendent Daniel Lee wrote in a Monday memo to faculty and staff. “Any money we save will offset next year’s budget shortfall.”
Discussions about next year’s budget, which typically begin in December or January, already are in progress, Lee said. During Monday’s Brewer School Committee meeting, the superintendent gave the board a rundown of the fiscal year 2010-11 budget.
“It’s not good,” he said Tuesday. “We’re doing our best to try and prepare for the cliff.”
The financial cliff Lee referred to is something he has been talking about for at least a year and is linked directly to the state’s economy and how it affects Essential Programs and Services funding.
State Sen. Richard Rosen spoke to Lee and other area superintendents last month about massive projected shortfalls in the state’s budget and possibly in local school funding. He told the group the state is facing a “daunting task.”
Education Commissioner Susan Gendron, during a meeting on Aug. 28, told Brewer school leaders that based on the economic climate, the city should get ready for a drop in state education funds, Lee said.
“She told us to prepare for a curtailment,” he said, adding that the best-case scenario for next year is a $163,000 decrease.
But that’s not all.
Brewer also heard in July that it must return $101,168 in out-of-district special education funds issued to the district that went unused, which means Brewer must send the state $33,000 a year for three years.
And, “next year we will make our first debt service payment of $216,000 for the local portion of the new school,” Lee said.
All the factors come into play at the same time, he said, so action needs to be taken immediately.
“Right now, you can predict fairly accurately … [that] the state doesn’t have any money and that there isn’t going to be enough to go around.”
By taking steps now to cut expenses, Lee said, he hopes to prevent teacher, staff or program cuts. School board member Calvin Bubar told city councilors last week that five teaching positions were on the chopping block, but he based that number on the budget shortfall, not actual planned cuts, Lee explained.
“We are not at that point,” he said. “We have not taken any position on the reduction of personnel. Is reduction of personnel an issue we need to deal with? Absolutely. There is no question about that. Eighty percent of our budget is personnel.
“You can’t get up to where you need to get up to by reducing paper, crayons and glue,” Lee said. “We’re all extremely worried.
The freeze on nonessential spending is just one step, the superintendent said.
“It is important to realize this action isn’t a panacea, but it will surely help,” he said in the memo.