FARMINGTON – At a SAD 9 board meeting Tuesday evening, officials outlined two plans of attack pending the potential passing of the Palesky tax cap.
Superintendent Michael Cormier described the possible impact of the Palesky tax-cap initiative. Cormier not only reiterated the provisions of the proposal but also calculated the financial loss to the school system.
“This could bring about some truly devastating changes,” said board member Ray Glass.
Using budget information from the 2003-04 school year, Cormier also pointed out that if the school system continues to get the same percentage of support from municipal funds provided Palesky passes, the school district’s budget would be reduced by $5,986,720. The school system would also stand to lose a state subsidy of $3,128,055, which was included in the total amount of reduction costs.
The first approach outlined by Cormier revolved around minimizing the impact on all programs by reducing the variable costs, and operating all programs for fewer school days. This would mean a school calendar reduced by 30 to 50 days.
The second approach would mean minimizing the impact on essential academic services by increasing class sizes to upwards of 30 students per teacher. Language arts, math, science, social studies and fine arts would all still exist, but extra co-curricular activities would suffer the most. The school year would also remain at a full 180 days.
Cormier highlighted both the positive and negative aspects of the two different approaches, but also made sure to point out that neither makes up for the loss in revenue.
“It’s either cuts in the school year, staff, or a blend of the two,” said Cormier.
In addition, both of the potential approaches would put the school system at risk of failing to meet the federal requirements of the No Child Left Behind act, the Maine Learning Results and local assessment system standards.
“This law is ridiculous to begin with and I hope it gets defeated,” said board member Bob Flick.
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