BANGOR, Maine — The Bangor School Department’s proposed 2013 overall budget has gone from a 0.54 percent increase over last year to a 0.34 percent decrease, thanks to more cuts school officials were able to make.
The total proposed budget figure goes from $41,606,064 to $41,238,725.
That’s the good news for Bangor residents. The bad news is the budget still represents an overall 1.86 percent increase in the amount Bangor taxpayers will have to fund.
The increase — $391,616 — results primarily from decreases in both federal and state funding. The original proposed budget’s local taxpayers’ share was $946,794, meaning school officials have trimmed that total taxpayer increase from 4.5 to 1.9 percent.
“That’s about 15 cents per person on the mill rate,” said Alan Kochis, Bangor School Department business office director. “This budget is actually $200,000 less than our 2009 budget.”
The cuts came through the use of an additional $250,000 from the department’s undesignated fund balance, a lowered estimate on health insurance ($140,239 less), and a $27,000 cut in the United Technologies Center budget for vocational education.
Kochis said another big help was the $2.8 million federal Qualified School Construction Bond approved by the City Council that allows the department to trim $200,000 in minor capital improvements from the budget.
“This allows us to get a whole bunch of projects done over the next two years that would normally take about six budget cycles to do,” Kochis said.
“And with the other new cuts, we’re now a negative budget without impacting our programs.”
Bangor Councilor Cary Weston was encouraged by the latest budget news, but still struck a cautious note.
“It’s encouraging to see the school department and superintendent whittle down their budget to find all possible savings and priorities,” Weston said.
“Though the budget shows a minimal change from last year to this year due to funding differences, it’s still asking for $400,000 new dollars from Bangor taxpayers.
“We’ll continue to look at all areas before approving any budgets as there are major shortages and fiscal challenges throughout the city.”
The proposed budget will be initially presented to the Bangor Council on Monday, April 11. The final budget will be presented for approval on Wednesday, May 9.
A reduced budget figure “good for Bangor residents”? Penny wise and pound foolish?
bigger budgets don’t always mean better results. the system itself is about more than numbers.
if we can’t provide a good education in a city of 33,000 people for 40 million dollars a year then we have problems another .2 percent won’t fix.
Money has little to do with education. Sending kids to college is great. But the upper middle class kids will always do well. Having a High drop out is not a good thing for society has a whole. Even the well to do still have to pay for people on welfare or in jail.
Your comment implies all that is necessary to keep people off welfare and out of jail is a high school diploma.
I would put forth that keeping 15+ yr old kids in school, when it is not where they want to be, makes the process less productive for those who do want to be there, thereby it wastes monies and efforts on something with no quantifiable payoff.
in today’s world you don’t have many opportunities to do much with you life without a high school education. Extra effort and programs are needed to keep kids in school so they don’t make an immature decision at 16yrs old that they regret for the rest of their life.
It is not a lifelong decision though. They can return to school through adult education and/or get their GED. If they are not interested in being in the school for the sake of working in the classroom they are gaining nothing and are detracting from the education of others. How are they further ahead by receiving a diploma at 18? They require so many resources to address their behaviors that it is mind boggling to me. I understand the theory of keeping them in school, but by application it does not make sense.
Many studies have shown that kids with a diploma who could not even pass a GED fair better than a drop out who has one. look it may not make sense if your biggest interest is seeing your kid get into an ivy league college. The greater good of society would be a much less selfish way to look at things. Look at it this way if we had no garbage or sewer workers as many people would die than if we had no doctors. Yes the doctor should make more but he he really more important to a society? Sorry I think a bit differently than most people . Maybe its a good thing do not have a formal education.
Do the studies to which you refer assume all things, beyond the drop out/GED vs. graduate, are equal?
Personally, my biggest interest has been, and remains, that my two high school age children are productive citizens that take full responsibility for themselves and any future family of which they become a part. One graduates this June and has enrolled in college – the other has two more years of high school left and currently is undecided about what she wants to do after high school – the choice is their own. I am a part of the high school culture on a daily basis and I stand by my belief that too many resources are spent trying to keep kids in school when it is the last place they want to be.
Like I said before that is your biggest concern . Seems kinda selfish to me. Dose any one want to address why these kids do not want to be In school . When school started requiring algebra 11 to graduate. Some kids will never be able to learn if they wanted too. I have found very few jobs that algebra11 is needed . I would care to bet most teacher can not do it. I know many college educated people not nearly as good as I am In math or numbers I never got past algebra1 . Different kids have many talents . You do not need algebra 11 to be an accountant, a teacher a ,doctor, carpenter, the list goes on and on . Why can we not be real about things. not all kids are gifted at school work does not mean they are dumb .
Two thumbs up for David!
It is not a perfect world but it would be a start. I do not think that it is all that is necessary . From most statistics 80% of people in prison did not get a HS. diploma. Well if the drop out rate was half what it is maybe crime would drop 1/4? It would make a difference. How much I do not know. Upper middle class kids will go to college in great numbers regardless of how good a school it is. With almost 80% of Bangor kids going to college what percent do not finish ? if half of those do not get a degree . Wouldn’t we be better off having a few less going in the first place and just as many getting a degree? No one really brings up the numbers. So we can only guess. Quantifiable pay off would be less people in jail or welfare . Maybe at the cost of a few less going to college that maybe should not be there in the first place. Things that look good on paper do not always work in the real world. A real question should be asked is why kids do not want to be in school. Not all kids are on a level playing field to start with not fault of thier own. Ever think somethings schools do make kids feel worthless ? Let go back to 3rd grade science fair. Kid has parents that do not help .He gets an F and is made to feel worthless. Another kid in 3rd grade has a project at graduate school level you KNOW the kid did not do on his own get an A and is made to feel good about it. You do not know till you walk in another persons shoes. For some kids dropping out is away to save any self esteem they have left. Most educators have no Idea . Including Dr. Webb .
Flag this if you must . Ever think it goes even deeper . On kids get involved In some trouble. He can not afford a lawyer get a court appointed one. Another kid come from a well known family . Is respected and well know. Has money to get a good lawyer . Both do the same thing with one is more likely to go to jail? I will give you a hint not the poor boy. . The unspoken rule in society. Laws might be the same for all . In the real world it dose not always work out that way. It happens more than we would like to believe and in more ways than we want to believe.
I have less of a problem with Bangor public school system budget than I do the way public works is run. Why doesn’t the city put construction projects and snow plowing out to private bid? Why were sidewalks prepped for paving 2 summers ago and then sat waiting for pavement for months? The town’s paver was broken.
I think it would cost most for snow plowing, Is there any business out there that had a fleet of snow plow trucks waiting to go?
Simple answer – Yes.
Go down to Worcester Mass, the 2nd biggest city in Ma. on a snowy day. It’s privately plowed with junk equipment by people who do not care. The Maine street is plowed with a pick up. It’s pathetic.
It’s so sad in our society that we have publicize how much we don’t spend on education. Instead of spending less, we should be spending it better.
we certainly do need to spend money better in education. student enrollment in maine has remained stagnant since the 70s while budgets have increased 400 percent. in bangor we continue to see a decrease in students since enrollment peaked ten years ago.
the goal is producing students who are prepared to work, succeed, and adapt in the modern economy. we need to ask ourselves if the system is working effectively.
bigger budgets don’t always mean better results.
Budgets should increase as time goes on. There is this thing called inflation after all. Furthermore, we are actually education children now that we didn’t in the 1970’s. We are providing educations for children with learning disabilities, emotional disabilities, and physical disabilities. In the 1970’s we found ways to kick them out of school.
Considering enrollment since the 70’s has literally plummeted, NOT “remained stagnant” (maine.gov), and we’ve ended up with ageing infrastructure for like 5’xs as many students, it’s a wonder the budgets have not increased a great deal more than a mere 400% over the period.
We’re talking 42 years.
What’s totally crazy is thinking there’s a future for a state that has these kinds of numbers.
It’s not the elderly and retired that are the future; it’s the children.
Well I was one of those children in the 70s . I really find no humor in what you say. I do not see how things have changed much. Funny I was a slow learner . Could have been my personality type lol in todays world I would be probably borderline autism lol. Well In high school I somehow managed to make it to the top 10 of my class (rank 9 of 64) never bringing a book home. I am very lucky to have made it. A few exceptional teachers along the way knew I was not stupid made a difference. Maybe growing up poor with uneducated parents and a lack of social skills did not help much. I am so tried of the BS. like bullies have a low self esteem crap. maybe the bully victim ones do . The real bullies have a high self esteem and well refined social skills could almost get away with murder. Are we going to Keep teaching myths , or be real about things? I am lucky I made it a lot are not as lucky as me . I was kicked out of school one time and quit Because of the punch you in the arm game the teacher condoned. I told the kid you punch me in the arm one more time I will punch you in the mouth. He did so I kept my promise.
It stinks you had to go through that. School should have opened up new opportunities for you.
I am one of the lucky ones In my field 70% of people with a 2 year degree do not pass the State of Maine lic exam on thier first try. I did I figure had I gone to college odds are I would not have passed 30% chance of passing (being a slow learner and all I bet maybe a 5% ). I have my issues with education . It seems to have little to do with learning and a lot to do with money.
Could enrollment have something to do with Bangor having one of the highest drop out rates in the state????????
Are we giving COLA’s or raises to any school employees this year? If so, I can’t get behind this.
The superintendent only made 144k last year. That’s almost poverty.
Funny when they say education has almost nothing to do with money. Looking at the dropout rate at Bangor compare to other schools Like Central In Corinth . Teachers are paid much less. Less spending per student. Kids from lower social economic classes . One would think they would be the ones to have the higher drop out rate. Bangor might sent a higher percentage of kids to college. But if one looks at Data or high school drop outs they might send a higher percentage of kids to prison , welfare or minimum wage jobs. All that good stuff with a superintendent that is in denial of the drop out rate. Pulled from the state of Maine Dept. of education. See what $144k get you.
Would you drop out of school if you could make more money selling drugs ?
Not me personally, but your self esteem is damage by the educational system Some might. Criminals tend to think highly of themselves . Wolly I am not talking about all kids some will have little hope no matter what we do. Some will be very immoral people get the education being from the right family and get away with stealing all thier life. Just look at some banks. There are people who have lost thier house who made the payments every month through scams to get lower interest rates. We can not save them all but to not try the best we can is an injustice.
are you being funny or serious – I can’t tell…
That is close if not the total she makes, the principals make close to 90 grand
There lies the problem.
If she ran a company with a $40,000,000.00 budget and hundreds of employees she would make a lot more than that. Bangor has one of the 4 best rated school systems in the state. Some of you folks that are complaining might want to see where a good many Bangor kids have gone in life. It’s impressive.
I wonder what the manager at Walmart makes Seems they have 100s of employees. A budget must be close to the same? We are talking here in Maine right? Funny you brought up pay Bushfan Seems her went up even with all the budget cuts. Last time I worked for a company with budget cuts the operations manager took a pay cut not a raise.
I’m curious, who should make $144,00.00 per year? Did you ever think that some of these highly educated people deserve to make better than average money as they are not average. That’s why they are leading a large school system.
Maybe if they were doing a great job. But with one of the highest drop out rates in Maine as a percentage of kids. Not one of the poorest places in Maine, Not nearly the lowest school spending per child and almost in complete denial of those facts . No formal explanation of why? or what is being done to change that . I seriously question that leadership is doing a good job for the kids that need it the most . A doctor should maybe. I business owner with integrity. Not a whole lot of big business have that. Look the governor dose not even make that much. It is not all about money or a degree. I am sure we could find a qualified teacher to do her job for less money. Results might be different. I guess it what the majority of people think is important without looking at the whole picture. I do not have all the facts I would like to get them but the truth is they do not even know. No One can honestly answer me to what the drop out rate is and what is being done about it. Maybe they are working on it know. That is no excuse for the failures they have had with it.
I can’t imagine that while all these cuts were taking place she would get a 20+% raise. That didn’t happen I am sure. I mean with all the free medical, dental, Maine retirement contribution and other benefits that the superintendent receives that would look, well, greedy to say the least I would think.
I just hope the occupiers don’t perceive her salary to be excessive, that almost puts her in the 1%.
Oh well, I am sure she is doing a great job in the community. The students that come from Bangor High seam to have an excellent understanding of how the world really works. Who you know vs what you know has always been a greater assett to behold and it seems they often get real life examples to prove the thesis correct. Want examples?
I like it we almost agree on something. I think .
So what are you behind
…. besides the curve ?
Here, is all the respect that your crazed conservative agenda deserves , but when are those tax cuts going to trickle down to Bangor’s children ? Do you think they should hold their breath until your tax cut theory happens ? Good on the School Department. They cut the education budget ” 0.34 percent” … thanks to more cuts school officials were able to make.” to be politically correct and the 39%ers are still whining even when” the ( OVERALL ) increase (local costs) — $391,616 — results primarily from decreases in both federal and state funding”I guess you want higher property taxes… from those who do not have a tree growth abatement is your goal. If that is not the reality then cut the gross deficit too, by at least .34 % , too then. It is a simple as not paying twice as much of whole rest of the world on national defense. lol The second Tues in November is what really matters. So remember, people : they cut the education budget, to be politically correct and the 39%ers are still whining. Will that ever end ? Why didn’t Bush fix everything, and why hasn’t LePage, already ? So okay, while they have the power in Maine, this year, I want to see how they will balance this year’s budget and not raise taxes. If not now, what then about their theories ? Still lol.
Why shouldn’t a school employee get a raise? Bangorian I have never read a positive comment from you on any topic. You seem very disgusted with Bangor, perhaps you should move and change you name to Augustorian or Portlandorian… Just a thought.
Many school teachers make much less than Bangor teachers . Maybe Bangor teachers deserve a raise but many deserve much more than they get. If Bangor paid teachers $5k a year less they could still find qualified teachers who make $10k a year less than they do now. It is by no means a fair or perfect world. A real business ran by the free market would pay those teachers much less. Just saying. What I was always told if you think you are worth more find another job paying more. No business I ever worked for that had budget shortfalls ever gave raises whether or not the workers deserved them.
Good Republican that he is, Councilman Cary Weston would be quite supportive of a tax break for corporations while wanting the Bangor School budget to remain static.
what corporations received what tax breaks?
when did councilor weston support them?
when did the city of bangor cuts taxes for corporations?
or could it be that none of these questions are relevant bc the city collects property taxes and you want to make weston look bad irregardless of fact?
it is interesting to note that two biggest property taxpayers in bangor are hollywood slots and the mall. i like when businesses help offset costs to help keep taxes down for homeowners. do you want to make the choice between cutting the school budget or increasing taxes on elderly people with no room left in their budgets
‘good republican’ weston recently opposed the republican governor on the issue of general assistance cuts in the state budget. you can read up on it here…
http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2012/04/03/opinion/contributors/proposals-would-drive-up-bangor-property-taxes/
so if businesses aren’t always bad and republicans don’t want to burn books then that
would shatter your world-view. it was nice of you to contribute constructively to the discussion today…society certainly benefited from your regurgitated slander.
How dare he want to try and intelligently spend money. If he were a liberal he would simply ask for a tax raise so he could blindly throw more money at any system hoping it would help.
People are in denial of things that do not directly affect them. Too me one of the biggest concerns is the HIGH drop out rate. See what a $144k super gets you, Someone that has no idea of the plight of the lower class because they never lived it. People think DR. Webb is great she dose some things well but at the cost or others.
@David: You need to be better “EDUCATED” on how the drop out rate in
Bangor is calculated. Bangor is a service school, meaning that when
kids don’t make it in other schools, their parents turn to Bangor to fix
the problem. These are students who would never be given the proper
special education services, and especially never graduate if they stayed
in their current school system. So instead, for various reasons, such
as a learning disabilities, pregnancy, or extreme behavior problems,
they are sent to Bangor to resume their education. Many times, these
students are high school students who come to the Bangor school district
to live in a group home for emotional and behavior issues, and who are
unable to live with their parents anymore, or girls who are pregnant and
want to attend night classes for their GED. After these students reach
a certain age, they are able to choose to drop out. So, since they
were last enrolled in the Bangor school system, we get the drop out
calculated in our rate, no matter how long they were actually considered
Bangor High students. Each school in the Bangor School Department is a
wonderful school, and they are each filled with amazing and dedicated
teachers.
Too sides to a story I think disadvantaged kids from Veazie or maybe even Glenburn might chose more often Orono . I do not believe Bangor buses kids from Veazie but do bus to Orono . So at least some of the kids that to Bangor are pooled from an upper middle class back ground at least that was the case 20 years go. Yes you may have a point . How many kids fro, Central go to Bangor? My guess is its not many. In any case having a talk from a school board member I was told the drop out rate as being 5% I said you mean only 5% of the kids do not graduate? I was told no one knows the drop out rate. Every state website puts it as high. See the whole issue is not properly addressed. No child left behind Ya right. My child is with me weekends . His mother is not educated and has problems . He is failling Mostly do to home work .In some of his classes homework is 50% of his grade. Maybe kids get high grade on home work but score lower on test than my child. Plan for him to stay after 4 days a week did not help. I question to a point who’s grade is it the parents or the childs sometimes. Put a lot of extra pressure o kids to preform with out giving a lot of extra support could also affect the drop out rate. I do not believe anyone intends to do this .Most teachers care a lot and are good teachers. I do not believe most teacher come from parents that do not at least have a HS. Education so can not completely understand. All kids are not on a level playing field from the start and not enough is done to level that playing field .
I would real love to be better educated On how the drop out rate is calculated . the only answer I get is its 5% . So i have to resort to look at government websites It always ranks Bangor near the bottom of the list.
You are kidding right, my kid is in a Bangor School right now and they are not teaching her anything that will help her in the future. She brings homework home, daddy i dont understand this, they never taught us. Get a clue luv
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I am a tax payer in Bangor and it is NOT good news for Bangor residents to cut funding for education. One of the main reasons I live in Bangor is for the excellent educational system offered here. We need to invest in our future, and that future depends on strong education as well as investments in infrastructure.
funny, the reason I left Bangor was to get my children out of the schools there.
I do however, agree that cutting funding is not a good idea.
The republicans want to cut the state income tax rate to 4%. That is 600 million less in revenues. If you like this cut you will love the ones coming.
People, there is no correlation, none, zero, between the education budget and students actually learning. The budget is huge because of the teachers salary and gold plated benefits. Do you get a pension? Do you get days off for “planning.” Do you get every holiday off? Do you get the summer off? Why do we let them?
Some of these over paid teachers have 6 years of expensive college that most of you folks complaining do not. The average teacher in the US quits after 3 years. Can the money be that good? starting pay for teachers is around 35K. If you spent 70k to 100k or more how much would you want to make?
I wold agree that at a glance an average teacher annual salary is not enormous. However, they are being paid VERY good money for what is NOT a full time job. Every possible holiday off, time off for “planning.” Do yo get the summer off? Do you have a pension and solid gold benefits? We, the tax payer, are getting ripped off.
You did touch on another problem. Its not my problem to pay for six years of expensive college for ANYBODY, except myself and my children. Why on earth does ANYONE need six years of college to teach elementary education? There is no intellectually honest answer, just mumbo jumbo double speak.
Ok how much should a teacher be making ? Look at the banks they have how many holidays off
They make way too much for what is not a full time job. I’d keep the pay and make them work full time.
Many of us work summers, and put in many hours during the weekends and evenings prepping. Not all, of course, but many.
Many teachers have to work two jobs to make ends meet. One of the problems we face is that we don’t have the money to pay the good people the salaries they deserve.
Excellence in education for MOST. Not ALL.
Do what brewer did, combine all the elementary schools, cut down to one principal,
I’m going to assume that you know Bangor has 35,000 people and Brewer about 9.000. How big is that Bangor school going to be?
big like brewers
Did you mean to say “4 times bigger than Brewer’s?”
If he can’t handle the job get rid of him there are all kinds of people out there that would work for less thats what people says in here
Sorry folks, I’m not a pro-Bangor suck up, but I recognize a school district that has been quite successful for the vast majority of kids because it hires (mostly) good people, pays them what they’re worth, and let’s them run the show…and here it has worked. And as much as I’d hate to admit it, I’d put the Bangor School Department up against any public (and several private), schools in the state, and it would come out on top.
I’m not a pro-Bangor butt kisser…but Bangor schools have been pretty darn successful on a very consistent basis for the vast majority of kids. They seem to get the idea of hiring good people, paying them what they’re worth, and letting them run the show…and as much as I hate to admit it, I’d put Bangor schools up against just about any schools (all public and most private) in the state and I’m pretty sure they’d come out on top.
Their hiring practices include the most blatant “we hire by what the last name is” hiring practices I have seen in education. Connections are virtually everything in the Bangor School Dept. I am not saying BSD has not had some successes, but come on, they are NOT about simply hiring the “best” for each position.
the best cost money don’t you know that ?
Not at all . Its not about tossing money at a problem . Its more how the money is spent.
You know the old saying you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink . There are kids that just do not want to learn . than there are kids that drop out for other reasons . Has the school or some one that they trust every sat down an talked with the kids to find out why they drop out ??
This budget had an increase of $391,616, used $250,000 from the Undesignated Fund Balance, and had $200,000 of capital expenses shifted by the $2.8 million bond (which of course is free money).
Somehow with “budget cuts”, budget shifts and a “.34% decrease”, there is still a 1.86 % tax increase. This magic math doesn’t make sense.
education should be about the last thing we should be cutting now… if anything education should have an almost unlimited budget… our children need better education.. let the military host a bake sale…
This would be a non-issue if the big heads at City Hall were good stewards to the children of Bangor. But instead of developing a long range strategy for the use of the 2.5 million dollar annual payment from gaming, they tied up the entire amount for the next twenty years on funding a new high school basketball arena.
Where your arguement fails is that the citizens of Bangor voted to have the funds from Hollywood go to pay for the arena. Not “the big heads at City Hall”.
You are correct, the majority of Bangor’s voters are idiots.
Majority of people are idiots . Only seem to care about what directly affects them. Not realizing everything affects them in the big picture. If Germany had not been so oppressed the holocaust Probably would not have happened. Please do not be stupid enough to put all the blame on Hitler . Things that will never be taught in school . In the years leading up to ww11 we were not even sure whos side we were going to be one. We have a history of taken the sides of evil tyrants like Sadam. Its all about greed . not about what is morally right.