| Joanne Cole, NGX |
MSAD 15 finance director Diane Boucher had sent school board members an 84-page detailed budget breakdown, but it was her simpler spreadsheet titled “Budget Adjustments” that became the focus at the board’s May 6 budget workshop. As the spreadsheet made clear, the bottom line is a 2020-21 school budget that will not increase the tax impact on residents. New Gloucester’s local share next year will be lower than for the current year.
Board vice-chair and head of the finance committee Sam Pfeifle told fellow board members that it is a significant achievement to deliver a “flat budget in terms of impact on local taxes,” and which even reflects a slight reduction in ‘the local ask,’ in these times. Pfeifle said, “The administration did a remarkable job.”
The board proceeded to affirm the revised budget in a unanimous straw poll, the next step on the road to formally presenting the district budget to voters.
For New Gloucester, the new expected FY21 local share of $5,699,032 is some $41,249 less than the current year, according to Boucher. The $5.7 million figure is also $500,000 less than the $6.2 million New Gloucester has been carrying as the expected school expense in ongoing municipal budget discussions.
A zero-impact budget was the school board’s stated goal this season. To reach it, an additional $449,539 in cuts were made to the board’s April 15 working budget. Pfeifle characterized the reductions as “many small incisions” that added up to a “relatively large cut.” He told the full board that the budget team prioritized staff—“the people in our buildings”—and said that the resulting impact on students “is very small.”
Finance director Boucher walked the board through the budget team’s thought process as well as specific cuts. They used “the lens of least student impact” when making decisions, she said. Savings were found through lower-than-expected dental insurance premiums, not purchasing a school bus, deferring some curriculum/book purchases, custodians working on projects now rather than in summer, delaying window replacements, and more. Even with the cuts, the budget supports staff, including their contracted raises, at a time when other districts are imposing pay freezes, Boucher noted.
Contributing on the revenue side is federal CARES Act funding, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security legislation passed by Congress in March. Boucher told the board that the district may use Cares Act funding for one-time purchases to support remote learning, to meet summer school programming, and more.
Figuring out the logistics of presenting the budget to voters in a time of pandemic may prove more problematic than finalizing the numbers. Questions spilled out about how to hold a budget meeting that requires secret ballots, and at a time when public gatherings may be limited to no more than 50 people. Would citizens vote in waves? Could absentee ballots go out and come back in time? Superintendent Craig King said that districts across the state are awaiting guidance from Augusta on how to proceed.
Budget documents, including the 84-page detail budget, and video of the May 6 budget workshop can be accessed on the MSAD 15 website here.
