By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
HOULTON — In the coming weeks, SAD 29 will be starting the budget process for its 2013-14 school year, but it is the current fiscal budget that was on the minds of school board members.
Meeting Monday at Houlton Southside School, the SAD 29 board briefly discussed the curtailment issue and how it might impact the district. On Dec. 27, Governor Paul LePage issued an executive order to reduce state spending by $35.5 million in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2013. Included in that order is cutting $12.58 million from the state’s education funding.
SAD 29, which includes Houlton, Littleton, Monticello and Hammond, is projected to lose $42,196 in money already promised to the district.
Superintendent Mike Hammner said one option for the district would be to use some of the money in its “contingency fund” to cover the curtailment. The district allotted $75,000 for contingencies during the last budget cycle and thus far has not used any of those funds.
“My original plan is to use the contingency account,” Hammer said. “If we had something catastrophic happen, we would have to reconsider. That way it won’t impact the students.”
Board member Fred Grant suggested the district have a back-up plan for ways to come up with the $42,196 in case something catastrophic did happen.
“We should try to identify those items we could reduce,” he said. “If we wait too long, and something happens, that money might not be there.”
Hammer suggested the finance committee could review those options when it gathers for a special meeting on Tuesday at noon. The district has yet to begin its budget planning in earnest because the state has yet to provide funding data for the next fiscal year, but plans to start the process during this special committee meeting.
“We’re just starting to pass out the budget materials to the administrators,” said Hammer. “We will then take a look at that (data). Anything we do would be preliminary since the state has not sent out the (Form) 279 yet. But I can start putting things together and meet with the finance committee shortly thereafter.”
Form 279 is a spreadsheet that details how much funding each district will receive and how much local revenue is required in order to get that funding.
Hammer said the “word on the street” is that the district will not likely receive more money from the state than it did last year. Last year, the district approved a $12.4 million budget that featured an increase in spending of $411,177 (3.4 percent).
In other agenda items, the board:
• Heard a presentation from Wellington Elementary School Principal Cindy Peterson, who discussed how her school was progressing with the Common Core State Standards.
• Briefly discussed security measures in each of their school buildings. In the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Newtown, Conn., the district has been reviewing its safety policies.
Additional meetings with local police and fire officials are in the works, according to Hammer. Some of the ideas discussed include the installation of buzzers and possibly video cameras, while locking the doors to buildings during the school day. The board suggested that the facilities committee should come up with a recommendation to bring to the full board.
The next regular meeting of the SAD 29 school board is set for Monday, Feb. 4 at 6 p.m. at Houlton Elementary School.