JAY — Regional School Unit 73 Superintendent Kenneth Healey presented information on the state education funding formula to the school board Thursday night.
The Essential Programs and Services formula calculated by the state is the minimum level of funding a school district should have. The state determines the number of teachers, administrative and support staff there should be at the elementary, middle and high school levels.
Dollar amounts are also listed for the various programs and services the district should provide. Figures for pre-kindergarten through grade eight and for grades nine through 12 are listed for some categories. Others are given for the district systemwide.
According to the state, RSU 73 should have:
• 44.7 elementary school teachers;
• 21.07 middle school teachers; and
• 28.6 high school teachers.
Decimals reflect part-time teaching positions.
Spruce Mountain School District has:
• 51.46 elementary school teachers,
• 21.55 middle school teachers; and
• 30.83 high school teachers.
The extra elementary teachers — three classroom, two interventionists, one computer science, and 0.66 music — equate to $521,480 above EPS.
Extra personnel at the high school — the Jobs for Maine Graduates director, one teacher each in industrial arts and alternative education and 0.2 science instructor — account for $193,840 above EPS.
Adding these totals, RSU 73 teaching staff is $715,320 above the EPS baseline.
In other staff, the elementary schools have an extra nurse, and the high school has an extra guidance or social worker. The district also has 0.4 more clerical help than recommended by the state.
The district uses fewer librarians but more library technicians than the state allows, which means less expense. Also, fewer education technicians are used than suggested. School administration in RSU 73 matches state calculations.
For these programs and services, the district is $119,125 above EPS.
The district is $511,083 below EPS recommendations for supplies/equipment and professional development.
It is also double the EPS recommendation for co/extra-curricular at the pre-K to grade eight level and $272,569 higher in that category at the high school. Overages are also seen in operations/maintenance, system administration/support, instructional and substitute categories.
The programs in these categories are $131,992 above EPS, listed by high school and lower levels.
Systemwide programs and services include special education. Healey said if the Crossroads program wasn’t available, it would require a minimum of $252,000 more to educate those students elsewhere. Also above EPS funding are transportation operations, $343,651, and bus payments, $88,709.
Total systemwide programs are $642,695 above EPS.
Healey is recommending several districtwide positions not be filled when retirements occur this year. If they are filled, it would add $342,169 more to the amount over EPS.
RSU 73 was over EPS by $1.26 million when Healey made these calculations. Additional cuts in the diesel fuel account will decrease the amount the district is over EPS. Any other cuts or changes will also affect the final amount.
pharnden@sunmediagroup.net
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