'Death by a thousand cuts' Schools face huge funding losses

Area schools each stand to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars under the cuts unveiled Friday. 

Gov. John Baldacci ordered $38 million cut from the $1.2 billion sent to schools in aid this fiscal year. The cut is spread among school systems based on the state's school funding formula, so schools that receive a larger share of state aid will also see a larger cut.

For Lewiston it means an $800,000 loss. For the Oxford Hills School District, it's a $750,000 loss. For Auburn, $668,000. For RSU 9, which includes Farmington-area towns, $331,000.

But that's not set in stone.

The Legislature could change the governor's curtailment amount when it considers a supplemental budget at the beginning of the year. But school systems are being told to plan for at least the loss outlined Friday.

"If they can find greater savings without impacting the classroom, they should do that," said David Farmer, spokesman for the governor's office.  

School systems have at least a couple of months before their aid checks are reduced. But school officials have long known that cuts were likely and many have been preparing worst-case scenarios for months.

For some, Friday's announcement was worse than even their worst-case scenario. 

"It's devastating," said Oxford Hills Superintendent Mark Eastman, whose school system is slated to lose $750,000. "At this point, unless pennies come from heaven, it's going to have to start involving laying off people."

In anticipation of a mid-year state cut, Oxford Hills school officials shaved $512,000 from their $34.4 million budget in October, then another $230,000 in November. Among other things, the school system cut several open positions, including a foreign language teacher, custodial staff and a teaching assistant.        

"Now we've got $50,000 more to cut," Eastman said.

He believes laying off support staff — custodians, bus drivers, food service workers, teaching assistants and others — will be among his only options left.

"This is death by a thousand cuts," he said. 

In Auburn, Superintendent Tom Morrill has also been anticipating a state aid reduction for months. He froze school system spending and is doling out money only for essentials. He hopes to deal with his $668,000 loss without layoffs. 

"My pledge is to do that," Morrill said. 

In Lewiston, Superintendent Leon Levesque has been watching his spending, too, but he didn't believe that would be enough to fill the $800,000 hole his school system faces. He is looking at ways to cut his budget, he hopes without layoffs. He will present his recommendations to the School Committee in December.  

This mid-year cut is a challenge, but what Levesque and other superintendents fear most are future cuts.  

With this curtailment, the Maine Department of Education is warning schools to expect another $54 million drop in state aid next year, with the possible loss of  tens of millions of dollars more the year after that.  

Eastman has an analogy for it. 

"Now we're looking at Tuckerman's Ravine," he said. "Next year, it's going to be the Grand Canyon."   

ltice@sunjournal.com

 

Town    Reduction    Total budget    Percent reduction

Auburn    $667,744.00    $31,056,896.79    2.2%

Lewiston    $799,744.00    $49,654,484.59    1.6%

RSU 9/SAD9 (Farmington area)    $331,072.00     $22,251,075.55     1.5%

RSU 17/SAD 17 (Oxford Hills area)    $750,384.00     $34,389,112.99     2.2%

RSU 10 (Rumford area)    $478,736.00    $33,081,865.60     1.4%