Sharing a formal budget proposal with the School Committee Tuesday, Superintendent Eric Waddell presented a 4 percent overall increase from last fiscal year, and a 3.3 percent increase for taxpayers.
The Kittery School District fiscal year 2020 budget currently chimes in at $17.9 million, and if approved by both the School Committee and Town Council, it will make its way to voters in June.
At a workshop in February with the School Committee, Waddell originally reported the anticipated increase as 4.17 percent, ahead of final state funding numbers and outlying health and dental insurance rates. While the state allocation for special education instruction came in around $1.5 million, an increase from last year, health and dental remains an expense variable expected to come in next month.
Waddell said this year’s budget building process was driven by several factors including the new three-year collective bargaining agreements for staff, a five-year transportation contract, debt service on school renovation and facility projects, escalating costs for special education, and lastly the district’s military-connected transient student population, the largest in Maine, which escalates costs with minimal federal impact aid to offset expenses.
Waddell’s recommended budget reflected fewer proposed position cuts than the one initially presented in February. Co-presidents of the Kittery teachers union raised concern shortly thereafter around the impact a reduction in force could have on the overall workplace culture and delivery of education.
The budget as proposed would newly fund art club advisers at Mitchell School and Shapleigh School, a Traip Academy sustainability coordinator, Spanish teacher at Shapleigh, school counselor at Mitchell, math specialist at Mitchell, reading teacher at Shapleigh, two cafeteria monitors at Shapleigh, special educator at Traip and administrative assistance for the curriculum, instruction and technology director.
The budget would also fund the hiring of a consultant to help shape the Vision 2025 comprehensive plan for the district.
As far as reductions, the proposed budget would eliminate the assistant principal position at Mitchell School, a fourth-grade teacher position at Shapleigh who would likely move into a fifth- or sixth-grade position, a reading recovery teacher at Mitchell and the assistant facilities director for the district.
“It’s never easy to talk about reductions in force because as much as we try, we have a very difficult time separating the position from the person,” Waddell said. “It’s important to be in constant review of our programs and services, to make sure the resources we have, which are limited and lean, are being used as wisely and effectively as they can be.”
Waddell noted the state allocation for special education instruction increased from $1.1 million last year, to $1.5 million this year. The costs of special education are increasing both regionally and nationally, he said, with Kittery’s budget alone reflecting a 12 percent increase in special education costs.
Because Kittery is designated by the state as a “property rich community,” it receives no state funding for regular education costs.
Depending on the numbers for health and dental insurance, the district may have additional money to allocate elsewhere.
Waddell said the proposed budget will be posted online and emailed out to families for public input. It will come before the School Committee once again on March 19 for another review.