CARIBOU, Maine — Residents of Regional School Unit 39 (Caribou and Stockholm) voted Wednesday to increase the $23.3 million budget that school board members previously approved.
Sixty-seven registered voters — 66 from Caribou and one from Stockholm — cast ballots during the district’s budget validation meeting at Caribou High School’s auditorium. Caribou resident Sam Collins was sworn in as the moderator.
The originally proposed $23.3 million budget for fiscal year 2024-2025 marked a 5.9 percent increase from last year’s budget of $22 million. The local education mill rate would have increased from 11.31 mills per $1,000 of property value to 13.29 mills, an increase of 1.98 mills.
Caribou resident and RSU 39 parent Rachel Bourgeois motioned to add $90,000 to the proposed $7.36 million for regular instruction, which includes teacher salaries and benefits.
Forty-three of the total registered voters agreed, with 15 voting no. That makes the new total for regular instruction $7.45 million.
Bourgeois said that she would like the school board to use the $90,000 to reinstate a sixth grade teacher position that the original $23.3 million budget would have eliminated. That position is currently vacant.
According to students’ latest test scores, 38 percent of the current fifth grade class are considered “at risk” in math and 49 percent are at risk for lower than average reading levels, Bourgeois said.
“When students have such a high level of need, we should reconsider taking away a teacher,” Bourgeois said.
Bourgeois also made motions to add $90,000 to the additional local share that district residents must raise through taxes and to the warrant article summarizing the total proposed district budget. A majority of voters approved both motions.
That means the additional local share will increase from $2.43 million to $2.52 million.
The $90,000 increases the total district budget from $23.35 million to $23.44 million. The local education-based mill rate will increase by 2.16 mills instead of 1.98 mills, said Business Manager Mark Bouchard.
Under the original $23.35 million budget, Caribou residents with a property value of $100,000 would have seen a $226 increase in their tax bill, and Stockholm residents would have seen a $4 increase, said Superintendent Jane McCall.
The state is appropriating $16.56 million to the district for 2024-2025, with Caribou expected to raise $2.71 million as its local share and Stockholm $120,594. Caribou’s anticipated local share is separate from the additional $2.52 million that voters agreed to raise.
Caribou resident James Jalbert made a motion to add $68,000 to the proposed $1.7 million budget for student and staff support to reinstate an information technology technician position slated for elimination. His motion failed.
RSU 39 School Board Chairperson Lindsey Theriault said that any motion to amend budget totals cannot require the district to use those new monies for specific positions.
On May 8, the board had approved eliminating the vacant sixth grade teacher position, an IT technician, an Innovation Center ed tech at Caribou Community School, a Caribou High School alternative education teacher, a Transition Center teacher and tutor from the high school, a school nurse and nurse’s secretary, assistant track coach and an unfilled assistant superintendent position.
That budget also cuts $681,500 from facilities maintenance, including $355,500 from capital improvement projects; changes a Gifted and Talented teacher from full- to part-time; and reduces funds for the high school wrestling team’s travel expenses, an assistant cheering coach and athletic supplies, McCall said.
Without any cuts, the district’s budget would have increased by 13.3 percent to $24.9 million and resulted in a 6-mill increase in the education tax rate, McCall noted.
Even with a higher state allocation, the RSU is seeing large increases in wages and benefits, which make up 81 percent of the budget. Teachers and ed techs are included in union bargaining agreements, McCall said.
Property valuations also affect school budgets. The 3-year average for local property valuations in Caribou and Stockholm increased by $21.8 million, or 5.4 percent, and is now $427.3 million total, McCall said.
The district has been preparing for the end of federal grants from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund that funded many positions, services and purchases during the pandemic. Positions returning to the district’s budget include two school nurses, a social worker, guidance counselor and three ed techs.
The loss of ESSER funds also explains why many cost centers within budget categories are increasing by over 100 percent, McCall said.
Residents questioned why, for instance, the costs for professional development and training in regular instruction and special education were projected to increase by 272.8 and 1,945.2 percent, respectively.
“We’ve had these COVID funds for four years, and now we have to fund these things on our own,” McCall said.
An increase in special education students who need private school instruction is why the cost to send those children to Opportunity Training Center in Presque Isle is increasing by 590.1 percent, from $16,000 to $110,427, McCall noted.
Voters did not change the special education budget, which is $2.9 million.
Voters approved the following amounts for budget expenditures: $2 million, career and technical education; $615,603, other instruction; $818,627, system administration; $822,904, school administration; $1.2 million, transportation and buses; $2.4 million, facilities maintenance; $3.3 million, debt service and other commitments; $108,447, all other expenditures, including nutrition; $186,098, non-state-funded debt service; and $243,500, adult education.
They also gave the district permission to transfer up to $200,000 in unexpected tuition revenue to a capital reserve fund.
Caribou High School receives tuition for students attending from outside districts in Caswell, Limestone, Connor Township, Woodland, New Sweden and Westmanland. The authorization means that the district can spend no more than $200,000 if tuition revenue is higher than expected, McCall said.
The approved district budget will go to a ballot vote Tuesday, June 11.
Caribou residents can vote at the Caribou Wellness & Recreation Center at 55 Bennett Dr. from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Stockholm residents will need to verify their local voting hours with the town office, open Monday through Wednesday from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The town office can be reached at (207) 896-5659.
