MADAWASKA, Maine – The Madawaska School Department enters the 2015-2016 fiscal year with a new superintendent but without a voter-approved budget.
Residents voted down a proposed $6.1 million budget at referendum Wednesday, the same day Gisele Dionne, former Madawaska high school science teacher, officially became the department’s superintendent.
“I’m very happy to be starting the year as superintendent,” Dionne, who has been the department’s assistant superintendent this past year, said Thursday. “But I wish I were starting it with a budget.”
Madawaska voters approved the proposed budget at the June 16 town meeting, but turned it down at this week’s referendum 379-203, Dionne said.
The proposed budget was down $420,744 from last year, Dionne said, and included a local share of $3.1 million which is $455,789 more than the previous year.
Several factors played into the local contribution increase, she said.
Madawaska received $453,000 less in state revenue this year and carried over $50,000 from last year’s budget compared to the balance forward of $370,000 from the previous year.
In an effort to keep the increase as low as possible, Dionne said the school committee cut a half-time science position in the high school, a half-time science position in the middle school, combined grades three and four to cut one teacher and eliminated a special aid position.
More than $180,000 in cuts came from reductions to administrative and teachers’ insurance payments, Dionne said.
Wednesday’s referendum defeat gave no clear instructions on where residents would like to see any future cuts made, she said.
“Now we need to go back to the school committee [where] everything is on the table,” Dionne said. “Then we take it back to the town.”
The school committee will address the budget during its regularly scheduled July 20 meeting, Dionne said.
Dionne did say there is one piece of good news since the state budget approved this week does include an additional $25 million for public schools.
“We should be hearing soon how much of that we will be getting,” she said.
Until residents approve a new budget at referendum, the Madawaska School Department will operate on the budget approved at the June 16 meeting, Dionne said.
