RUMFORD – Some of the district’s 65 educational technicians will likely take a hit as SAD 43 develops its 2005-06 operating budget.
The district, said Superintendent Jim Hodgkin, employs more educational technicians than many districts of similar student population. For example, he said, neighboring SAD 44 employs 17 ed techs for a student population of about 1,100. SAD 43 has a student population of about 1,600.
“We’ve asked school administrators to determine if their programs could be run with fewer ed techs,” he said.
He said he has tried to alleviate the fears of ed techs now by letting them know their positions are being looked at, adding that there is plenty of work that could be done by as many as 150 ed techs if the money was there.
Hodgkin said the district is trying to devise a budget of $14 million or less for 2005-06. The current operating budget is $14.3 million.
At least three-quarters of the district’s 65 ed techs work in the special education program. Because of this, a close review must be made of individual education programs for special education youngsters to determine how mandated requirements can be provided with fewer educational technicians.
Department heads have presented a possible $14.7 million budget total. At least $700,000 must be cut, said Hodgkin.
“This district (in recent years) has reduced in every area, including teachers, except in ed techs. It’s just not efficient to have this number,” he said. “It’s a near certainty we’ll make pretty substantial cuts.”
The board is expected to take a first look at developing the budget for the next school year in March.
Even with a reduction of $300,000 from the current budget, under the state’s new funding formula, three out of four of the district’s member towns will experience a jump in their share of school taxes for the next fiscal year. Rumford’s share is expected to jump by $292,000, and Roxbury’s and Byron’s by about $12,000 each. Mexico’s share is expected to decline by slightly more than $300,000 because its share in the past has exceeded the state’s circuit-breaker figure of $8.26 for educational expenses per $1,000 of valuation.
Hodgkin said the educational expense mandates for all four district towns should level off by the 2006-07 school year because of anticipated higher state aid to education funding and a lower circuit-breaker cap of 7.49 mills required by the state for education costs.
Comments are no longer available on this story