FARMINGTON – SAD 9 officials met with selectmen Tuesday night to explain the process and pressures shaping the 2004-2005 school budget.

It also gave selectmen an opportunity to tell school directors about increases they face, too.

The hope, said SAD 9 Superintendent Michael Cormier earlier this month, is better understanding and at best, collaboration on projects that could save taxpayers money down the road.

Town Manager Richard Davis told SAD 9 officials of some foreseeable increases in the 2004 municipal budget. They included an expected 7.9 percent swell for health insurance premiums, a nearly 30 percent increase in property and casualty insurance premiums and a leap in the amount billed for subsidy from Franklin Memorial Hospital’s LifeStar Ambulance.

That proposed increase, from about $37,000 in 2003 to more than $97,000 in 2004, would be the toughest pill for taxpayers to swallow and make any increases in the SAD 9 budget too hard on the wallet to handle.

Davis also pointed out that the county budget is up more than 9 percent.

Cormier responded by saying the district would do all it could to keep the budget increase as low as possible.

But federal mandates, like those being pushed on the district because of the No Child Left Behind Act, are not being backed by federal dollars, meaning the financial hit to cover those costs to bring students up to standards is being taken locally.

Those mandates are pushing the district “up against the wall,” he said.

Cormier said based on what feedback he has gotten at this and other meetings with district towns’ selectmen, he will start sending regular letters to boards of selectmen notifying them of the major issues before lawmakers in Augusta that will affect education and how to pay for it.

Cormier said because the freshman class will be the first to graduate with standards-based diplomas, the district will have to implement summer school to bring students not making adequate progress up to standard. The district has saved enough federal grant money to pay for summer classes.

Although the mandates are tough to pay for, they are good for Maine students, Cormier stressed.

After hearing municipal concerns, Cormier told Farmington selectmen he will do his best to keep the budget low.

That means no new programming and some staff may be cut, he admitted.

“We’ve got to hold the line,” he said, but added it would be impossible not to have an increase without “destroying” crucial programming.

The district would look to work with towns, the University of Maine at Farmington and Franklin Memorial Hospital, among others, to do bulk purchasing on everything from fuel to office supplies, he said. He urged town officials that if they had any construction projects on tap, to try to get help from students at the district’s tech center to keep costs low.

The district is at the point, he said, where even saving a nickel or a dollar would be beneficial.

SAD 9 Chairman Greg Webber said the district is sensitive to the increases in the towns. But, he added, “The places where we can affect the budget are shrinking. Education is a big business and zero percent increases are tough.”

SAD 9 representatives will meet with selectmen in each district town before the budget is presented in March.

sdepoy@sunjournal.com

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