FARMINGTON — The first shot against the proposed Regional School Unit 9’s $32.97 million budget was fired just after the discussion began on Article 1 on Wednesday night.
From there, it was a volley of shots between those who were in favor of validation and those opposed.
According to comments overheard in public and on Facebook, people in district towns are pushing to get the most voters behind their positions on the proposed budgets for the referendum June 14.
More than 200 voters turned out to discuss and vote on the 17 articles dealing with the kindergarten through grade 12 budget and the proposed $404,103 adult education budget.
In order to get state funding of $29 million, taxpayers will need to raise $10.29 million among the 10 towns.
Both budgets were approved as is, despite the efforts of those against it.
Michael Deschesne of Farmington posed an amendment to the proposed $10.25 million in Article 1, which covers instruction, reducing it by $133,165 to $10.12 million.
Deschesne said that every school district around RSU 9 either brought in a flat, negative or slightly increased budget. He read the percentages of those districts, including RSU 73 in Jay and the Waterville area, which were flat. He also cited School Administrative District 58 in Kingfield as bringing in a lower budget than the current one.
The average was negative 1 percent, he said.
“We are 2.9 percent positive, high,” he said.
Deschesne said RSU 9 towns have a median income of $38,341, the lowest among the school systems he had named. He also took issue with administration salaries in the district and gave information on districts around them.
Superintendent Thomas Ward makes about $125,000, $3,000 less than the Lewiston school system’s superintendent, he said.
He asked the board to bring in a flat budget.
Teacher and taxpayer Barbara Marshall said Deschesne made an excellent point regarding higher median incomes.
It means fewer of their children come to school hungry, she said, fewer of their children have two parents working, and fewer of their children have two parents too exhausted to read to them at night.
Marshall, a classroom teacher, regularly feeds snacks to four to six children a day and readily gives away books, she said.
She said she was not advocating for a higher salary, but instead advocating for smaller classroom sizes so children can learn better.
Reducing Article 1 would mean cutting teachers and having more students in classrooms, she said.
“Don’t cut it from the classroom,” Marshall said. “That is an ignorant move.”
People complained that they were unable to afford or sustain their taxes with more than a $3 million increase in the budget over three years because of the economy and living on fixed incomes.
Others brought up positive points, such as the district’s per-student cost of $9,675 being below state average, as well as lower than other systems in the area.
Some attendees felt Ward was not being transparent about the actual increase and believed the proposed budget was factoring in more than a 2.9 percent increase.
Ward said there are two sides to the budget — expenditures and revenues — and that the proposed budget is no more than a 2.9 percent increase overall.
“We worked our tails off to be as transparent as possible,” he said.
Most of the budget meetings were streamed live and three informational meetings were held in different towns to discuss the budget before it was set.
In the end, the amendment to Article 1 failed by a written ballot, with 111 in favor and 158 opposed. The original $10.25 million article passed. The second article dealing with special education for $4.68 million passed in a written ballot, 162-99.
People can watch the budget vote and budget discussions that led up to the vote online at www.livestream.com/FTCDigitalMedia.
dperry@sunmediagroup.net
A yes or no validation referendum on the proposed RSU 9 budget set by voters Wednesday will be held in each of the 10 towns in the district on June 14.
Voting times and places are:
Chesterville: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Town Office
Farmington: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Community Center
Industry: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Town Office
New Sharon: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Town Office
New Vineyard: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Smith Hall
Starks: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Community Center
Temple: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Town Hall
Vienna: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Fire Station
Weld: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Town Office
Wilton: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Town Office
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