HOULTON, Maine — A group of just 24 residents came out Tuesday evening, June 2, to cast their ballots on the $15.1 million budget for RSU 29.
Because of the state’s 50-person limit for gatherings, which went into effect June 1, a second room in the school’s gymnasium had to be set up for residents if more than the allotted number showed up. The gymnasium was equipped with a video monitor and microphone to allow for two-way communication between the two rooms.
Inside the auditorium, seats were taped off to accommodate social distancing rules and members of the school board sat on the stage, with chairs appropriately spaced. All participants were also required to wear face coverings during the meeting.
“It all seems rather surreal,” RSU 29 Superintendent Ellen Halliday said in introducing the spending plan. “Never did I dream we would have a meeting where the audience would all be masked. But here we are.”
Halliday explained the district examined all the state guidelines for holding an in-person meeting, taking social distancing and CDC protocols into consideration.
At $15,157,592, the budget features an increase of $528,357 (3.61 percent) over the current fiscal year. RSU 29 will receive $11,336,068 from the state for its contribution for education. That amount is an increase of $697,670 over last year’s figure. Over the last two years, the district has seen its state contribution increase by more than $1 million.
The budget was unanimously approved by those attending the meeting.
Last year, voters in Houlton, Hammond, Littleton and Monticello approved a plan to do away with a second referendum vote of the school budget for a three-year period. That means the June 2 meeting was the only opportunity for residents to ask questions and vote on the spending plan.
There were few questions during the 17-minute meeting. In fact, setting up the technology for the meeting actually took longer than the meeting itself.
Attorney William Stockmeyer of the law firm Drummond Woodsum of Portland served as moderator for the meeting.
“I was asked to see if we could expedite this meeting [because of the face coverings],” Stockmeyer said. “That will depend on whether there appears to be general agreement in terms of the articles. I would like to dispense with reading each article. I will explain each article and the dollar amount and then ask for a motion and a second.”
The state contribution figure has risen steadily over the past decade. For comparison, in 2011-12, RSU 29 received $8,466,083 in state subsidies.
In order to receive those funds, the district must provide $3,187,064 for its required local share of the budget. That amount is down $33,718 from last year and continues the trend of a decreased local share. Many other school districts in the area are seeing their state funds slashed or local shares increased.
Halliday said by utilizing $350,000 from the carry forward account (money budgeted in 2019-20 that was not spent) and taking $114,459 from its surplus account, the district was able to put together a budget that required only the minimum amount of local tax dollars from its communities.
The rise in spending is due to a number of factors, Halliday said. Some of those include increases in wages and benefits for teachers and substitute teachers; increased personnel that includes expanding a part-time school nurse at Houlton Elementary School to full time and adding a social worker position; programming needs to include a new math series; upgrades to LED lights; a small paving project at the high school; and the lease purchase of a new school bus.
“I say this each year, but we are so fortunate in this district to have committed teachers, support staff, food service, custodians, bus drivers and administrators,” Halliday said. “I want to thank them for how they have come together to support our students during this difficult time.”
