LIVERMORE FALLS – The proposed 2003-2004 budget for SAD 36 is ready to go to the voters, but the vote will not be held until the June 10 regular election.

Superintendent Terry Despres told the board Thursday there was no need to incur the expense of a special referendum. A public hearing on the budget was set for May 29.

The board will sign the warrants for the referendum at the May 8 meeting so absentee ballots can be prepared.

“Town officials are extremely happy to have the school budget set,” he said.

He also shared the good news that the 2002-2003 budget, approved at $7,865,969, will actually be $8,085,029 due to $219,060 of additional income.

“We’re in a good position overall,” he said, noting that expenditures were 3 percent below what was predicted.

Despres said he was concerned about more possible cuts from the state and advised the board to keep some funds in reserve.

“I don’t want to see this district looking for ways to cut in October,” he said. “Some districts are really having problems. It’s not a pretty picture across the state right now.”

When voters see the new budget, according to Despres, there will be about $52,000 added to the warrant in Part II, which serves as a cushion fund. Of that amount, he suggested $12,000 be put into a contingency fund and the remainder be left as non-budgeted reserve.

The addition will not change the amount paid by the towns, which for the 2003-04 budget has been set at $7,876,898.

“We’ll have our own buffer,” said Despres. “It will be a good insurance policy for the community.”

The board accepted the resignation of R.J. Jenkins, art teacher and technology coordinator at Livermore Elementary School. He will be teaching at Kents Hill School next year.

Despres will apply to the state’s revolving renovation fund for repairs to the roof on the high school academic wing, along with replacement of the cowl walls. The building featured balloon construction, he explained, resulting in poor insulation and strength issues in the window walls.

The central office for the superintendent is now located in the Cedar Street Learning Complex at 9 Cedar St., which the district owns. The office was formerly located in leased space at the bank.

“It’s nice being close to the campus,” said Despres stated. “We’ve already had visitors.”

Livermore resident Mary Dow addressed the board during the public portion of the meeting, sharing her concerns about the future of the high school, as envisioned in a Promising Futures Grant application.

The vision would include a civil rights team, which Dow wants to prevent as she feels it is only a front for gay rights.

“Citizens won’t support it if they really knew,” she said.

In response, Despres noted that state government is the driving force behind civil rights in the schools and urged her to contact Principal Rod Wright to be involved in the grant application.

cbriggs@sunjournal.com

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