FORT KENT, Maine — MSAD 27 in Fort Kent will present a lower school budget to voters during a hearing later this month and referendum vote in October.
Area voters rejected the first budget in June, which would have represented an overall 6.4% increase over the previous year’s budget. Shortly before the vote, town officials in Fort Kent and Wallagrass approved advisory resolutions stating that they were opposed to that original budget, citing concerns about rising costs for aging residents relying on fixed incomes.
MSAD 27 Superintendent Ben Sirois in a statement issued shortly after these resolutions said that no town officials took the time to participate in any of the school’s budget discussions or meetings up until that point. Sirois wrote that it was neither fair nor responsible for the town officials to criticize a process they ignored.
This first budget would have represented a $429,404 increase across the MSAD 27 towns.
Voters in August rejected the second budget, which was slightly lower than the budget they approved last year. In order to create this second budget, school officials cut six positions, made reductions to food service equipment and building supplies, and began charging student athletes to play sports.
Shortly after the second budget was rejected, Fort Kent Town Council set the mill rate to 23.85, a 0.9 mill increase over the previous year. Because the town is on a timeline, it could not wait any longer to set the mill rate. This mill rate assumes the total amount of the second school budget, even though it was rejected. If the third budget is approved, then the difference will be used to offset next year’s taxes.
For the third budget, which the school board approved on Monday night, there is a $6,905 reduction in expenses and an $80,000 increase in revenues over the second budget. The overall budget is $86,905 lower than the one that voters rejected last month and $93,911 lower than the budget approved last year.
Sirois said that, after making this new round of cuts, MSAD 27’s per-pupil spending will be $18,047, which is below the most recent state average of $20,139, according to the Maine Department of Education ESSA Dashboard statistics. He said this number is lower than all the other schools in the St. John Valley region as well as several other schools in Aroostook County.
The public hearing for this budget is set for Sept. 18 at 6 p.m. in the Fort Kent Community High School gym. If approved, it will go to referendum for a third time on Oct. 18.
