GLENBURN, Maine — The Veazie and Glenburn committees attempting to pull their towns out of their school union with Orono began early negotiations with the RSU 26 board during a meeting Wednesday night.
The withdrawal committees are attempting to address 11 requirements laid out in state statute.
Among those requirements are ensuring that all students in the withdrawing town have adequate access to educational services, that property and assets are appropriately divided and that pre-existing financial obligations are taken care of.
The committees’ solutions to those issues need to be approved by both the school board and the Maine Department of Education commissioner before voters go to the polls to approve or deny the plan.
Michael O’Connor, Glenburn withdrawal committee member and Town Council chairman, told the board he hopes to have a final plan ready for board consideration by July 10 so the agreement can be submitted to the Department of Education by July 24.
Janine Raquet, chairwoman of the Veazie withdrawal group, said her committee still was weighing its options and didn’t have as “ambitious” a time frame as Glenburn.
She said the committee and school board would need to address several questions going forward, including what tuition rates would be for Veazie students attending Orono High School postwithdrawal.
The committees will continue to gather information and numbers as they craft a plan for pulling out and said they will continue to update the board and share plan drafts throughout the process.
In the meantime, the district still has to decide on its budget for the next fiscal year.
During a Tuesday night school district budget meeting attended by about 60 people from the three towns at Veazie Community School, residents voted to add $265,000 to the board’s recommended budget, making the total budget roughly $21.8 million — an increase of about $480,000 over last year’s budget.
Brian McGill of Orono suggested the addition to the budget as a way of giving the board extra money to work with in an attempt to reinstate the Glenburn assistant principal’s position to the budget and add back several other positions throughout the district that have been cut or reduced during the budgeting process.
Glenburn residents argued that not having an assistant principal in a school with more than 400 K-8 students presented a significant safety risk.
After much wrangling and discussion during the three-hour meeting, residents approved the move via ballot.
Some of those who voted against the measure said that while adding money to the budget might bring back positions at the district’s schools, it will mean tax increases in each community, which many residents not present at Tuesday’s meeting might find burdensome.
O’Connor said Glenburn already has passed a bare-bones budget and any increase in local allocations would need to be covered almost entirely by a tax hike — a fact that would not please Glenburn residents or residents of other towns that may need to raise more tax dollars to come up with the additional $265,000.
Voters will consider the school budget in a districtwide referendum question on the June 12 ballot in each town.
Nobody likes tax increases, and $265K sounds like a lot of money, but it is important to keep this one in perspective. It is just over a 1% increase to a budget that even after adding back the $265K still has had about $750,000 in budget cuts (there were severe financial headwinds this year due to state and federal conditions). It amounts to just a $40 dollar per year or $3.33 per month increase for a $150K house. Not fun, but not going to destroy anybody’s budget either.
At the same time, this puts about 5 people back into schools who have real impacts on students. Cuts had to happen this year but there is a difference between cutting vs. cutting to the bone.
I’m sure the people who use their children as a tax deduction would gladly turn the allowed deduction over to the school system, since it’s for the kids.
i hope you know that adding this money to the budget is not adding the position. the board is going to decide how or if to spend that extra money. they could leave you paying more and not getting the assistant principle position filled. good luck.
If you take the long view, the number of kids in the overall RSU has dropped and projections continue to decline to changes in the population. Your $40.00 per year does not include any money which the town may have to raise for itself. Many of your fellow RSU property owners are on fixed incomes, and or like myself have not had a raise since 2008. Finally, what the article does not include, and you did not mention is that the RSU Board apparently did not endorse this move.
First, this was the citizens chance to influence the budget. Its the way the law is written. If the legislators had meant the board to have sole power they would have written the law that way. Its called democracy. And among the board members present and voting, the support was mixed – not far from 50/50. Why do we need to make inflated claims?
My understanding is the long term projections show a dip and then an increase. But this is a budget for the coming year, and at least in Orono the coming year has 40 kids registered for kindergarten next year – a giant increase.
Why on earth would an article on a school budget meeting be estimating how much the towns choose or choose not to raise their taxes for town-related business?
The 1% increase is below inflation which is around 3% right now and much of the $265K that got put back was driven solely by the increased value of people’s property, not an increase in rate.
Really, $40 is so unaffordable we should cut the schools to protect people from their inceasing property values?
Don’t get me wrong, yes I agree it is the citizens chance to add their voice to the budget, I have no problem with that. Long term projections do show a dip, and then an increase, but the increase does not compensate for the overall long term loss of students, especially at the high school level. The taxes have incrementally continued to rise, year after year, and again taking the long term view are quickly outpacing the ability of the citizens to continue to pay them. What I know is that my taxes are about $300.00 a month, and I believe I am comfortable in the middle. The Board indicated (with apparently the consent of the Superintendent, whom they have hired to run the schools) that they could manage with the budget being presented. I for one have to have faith that the duly elected representatives of this organization would “Do no harm” and tried to bring a budget which was as fiscally sound as possible.
No, no, no…we can’t have a tax increase that puts young people first! Let’s just keep killing Afghanis….that just makes soooo much more sense!
“Some of those who voted against the measure said that while adding money to the budget might bring back positions at the district’s schools, it will mean tax increases in each community, which many residents not present at Tuesday’s meeting might find burdensome.”
“…many residents not present…” So what else is new? As usual, a veritable handful of people show up for the vote. I grow very weary of that line as an excuse to not show up and vote for or against a budget.
The litmus test of the budget will be if it is voted down at the June 12th referendum, that is where the “public” will decide.
That’s right, June 12th is the day the public must approve this budget. Let’s hope that those who support education across all three RSU 26 communities come out and strongly support this budget.
and before that the voting public in all communities examine the budget which was developed and approved by the Board, as being able to meet the needs of the students of the RSU, and then evaluate a perhaps small tax increase this year, but a potentially substantial increase in the next budget cycle.
June 12th may be the day to vote, but why show up only on that day to vote “No”? It wastes the time and efforts of the people who have worked hard to come up with the budget. Go during the process and not only lend a voice to the subject, but learn about how and why.
Oh, I agree, be informed. But do forget the only day which actually counts is the 12th. Do you want to approve this budget with a tax increase, or do you want to send it back to the school committee for its’ reconsideration and fixing what is wrong according to the taxpayers.