VEAZIE, Maine — After hearing debate that was contentious at times Monday night, town councilors unanimously agreed to back off from an earlier school budget directive that would have required deep cuts in staffing and support services.
Had the proposal come to pass, school officials would have needed to trim an estimated $500,000 from the $4.2 million budget they have developed for the coming school year.
During a meeting on Monday night attended by about 60 to 70 people, town councilors voted unanimously to support a school budget for next year that reflects a local appropriation in the same amount as this year, or $2,714,264.
“So they’re basically asking us to flat-fund the budget at the local level,” Veazie Superintendent Rick Lyons said Tuesday.
That will require a roughly $201,000 reduction from the $2,915,324 local appropriation school officials budgeted for next school year earlier this spring, he said.
That is a somewhat softer blow than the $500,000 town officials asked for a few weeks ago in a special edition of the town newsletter, which prompted a special school committee meeting last week.
“Certainly, a $200,000 versus a $500,000 cut is certainly better. That’s true,” Lyons said. “The other thing is that they did not direct us to use the fund balance. They directed the budget committee to commit to a budget [that calls for] the same level of local support as this year.”
The latest school budget game plan will be discussed by the town’s budget committee on Thursday night, Lyons said.
Town Council Chairwoman Tammy Perry and Town Manager Mark Leonard did not return phone calls seeking comment Tuesday.
In the meantime, Lyons said, he and Veazie Community School Principal Scott Nichols will develop a list of budget cuts to be considered during a school board meeting next Monday night.
Lyons said earlier that school officials already have eliminated a classroom teaching position, the equivalent of two ed tech posts, the curriculum stipend and contingency funding for one out-of-district placement.
The councilors’ earlier plan called for reducing the local cost for education from $2.7 million to $2.2 million and offset lost revenue with Regional School Unit 26’s withdrawal “settlement” funds.
That plan came to light about a week and a half ago, when residents received a special edition of the town newsletter that contained what school officials said were factual errors.
The town’s earlier plan was to reduce what locals contribute to the $4.2 million school budget by dropping the local allocation from $2.7 million to $2.2 million, and offsetting the school’s revenue loss by using $500,000 from the $866,860 in settlement funds received this year from the separation from RSU 26 a few years ago.
Lyons, however, said the settlement funds actually are operating and carry-forward costs.