LEWISTON — The School Committee on Monday night approved a budget that cuts positions, adds special education programs and raises property taxes.
If approved by voters next month’s referendum, the $61.4 million budget for 2014-15 will be 4.5 percent more than this year’s $58.8 million.
For a home valued at $150,000, school spending would raise property taxes $46.50 a year, a 3.3 percent increase from this fiscal year.
Superintendent Bill Webster thought the property taxes on such a home would go up by $126 based on the budget he presented March 4.
Voting for the budget were Paul St. Pierre, Jama Mohamed, Cynthia Mendros, James Handy, Matthew Roy, Trinh Burpee, Linda Scott, Don D’Auteuil and Tom Shannon.
Chairman Handy said there are still needs not covered by the budget, “but we can look at the expansion of the autism program (at Geiger Elementary and the Lewiston Middle School) as one of the important developments.”
The committee needs to work on building an in-house suspension program and monitoring a new “pay to play” model at Lewiston High School, fior which athletes next year will pay $10 per sport to help pay for uniforms. The committee will have a separate vote on pay to play in May.
“Since I’ve been on the board, going on 19 years, this board has always been careful with taxpayers’ money, but does not step back from its responsibility to provide the best education that we can,” Handy said.
Committee members Pierre and Shannon agreed.
“It’s better than we anticipated,” Shannon said. He praised administrators who came up with proposals and suggestions that helped find solutions to more severe cuts and taxes.
But one big reason for the smaller-than-expected property tax hike was announced Monday night. Webster said he found out April 18 that Lewiston will receive $900,000 more from the state for special education costs.
When the state released estimates in early March on how much Lewiston would receive, the numbers should have been $900,000 higher for growing out-of-district special education costs, Webster said, an error discovered by Lewiston controller Elaine Runyon.
Webster brought it up with Maine Education Commissioner Jim Rier, who told Webster to be patient; readjustments would be coming. That readjustment came Friday.
That money will be used to lower the property tax hike and put $270,000 into the district’s saving account, which had been emptied to cover special education costs. Committee members agreed not to restore cuts made in the past two months, but acknowledged they may reconsider cuts later.
To help cover growing special education costs, higher health insurance premiums and raises for staff, the budget cut 13 positions representing $1.1 million in spending. It also added special education programs and staff at Geiger Elementary and the Lewiston Middle School. The goal is to reduce the number of special education students in expensive, out-of-district programs. There are now 100.
Not approved in the budget was an educational technician at Lewiston High School for a new in-house suspension program. Instead, someone will staff a one-day-a-week in-house suspension for a few students.
It means students who receive one-day suspensions for minor violations, such as skipping detention repeatedly, will go to an in-house suspension, but other students suspended for longer periods will be temporarily removed from school.
The one-day-a-week in-house suspension “is a start,” Webster said. It could be reviewed in June when the committee hears a report on the two new deans.
The budget freezes pay top administrators, eliminates six teacher positions at various schools, and cuts the high school sports budget by 9 percent. The latter cut will be made up by pay-to-play fees and higher ticket prices for fans.
Webster said the revised budget is much better than the original.
“It’s far from perfect, but I feel much more comfortable this it is a budget the city can afford, and that allows us to tread water in educational programming with the expectation of improvements in the following year,” he said.
The budget goes to the City Council and then to taxpayers May 13.
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- Lewiston Superintendent Bill Webster updates the Lewiston School Committee on Monday night on the latest budget development, that Lewiston will get $900,000 more from the state for higher special education costs. The committee unanimously approved the budget Monday night. The public will vote during a referendum on May 13.
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