By Jodi Hausen,Staff Writer

FARMINGTON – Several School Board members, the superintendent and assistant superintendent of SAD 9 attended the selectmen’s meeting Tuesday night to discuss the district’s budget.

Superintendent Michael Cormier explained the district’s proposed budget to selectmen. He estimated, using the state’s new essential programs and services formula, the 2005-2006 school budget to be $21.6 million, with the state providing $12.1 million, a subsidy increase of $1.7 million.

The new legislation, designed to help reduce property taxes, will do little to decrease the cost of education next year for taxpayers in Farmington or any of the nine towns served by the district, according to a spreadsheet Cormier had prepared.

He explained that next school year, towns will pay a percentage of the total school budget based a per-pupil formula rate. His calculations indicate that formerly projected budgets show little change compared with new budgets, with most towns showing a change of about one-quarter of 1 percent.

He also told selectmen he had testified in Augusta on Tuesday regarding the state’s proposed reimbursement for transportation. Under the new law, subsidies for transportation are based on historical data rather than on a per-pupil rate. Cormier’s spreadsheet indicated that the district’s transportation budget for the current year is nearly $1.4 million. The state’s proposal for next year is more than $271,000 less. The system is $276,000 over budget this year in fuel expenditures alone, Cormier said.

He said he told committee members in Augusta that district buses travel 2,800 miles daily to transport students, some of whom are required to walk up to a mile to a bus stop. He told of a Weld student who travels one hour and 45 minutes each way on three buses to get to school in Farmington, he said.

When SADs were created, the law required that districts provide transportation for students to school. So regionalized school systems are being punished by having money taken away, he said. He appealed the budget committee’s recommendation, asking for more transportation funding. He also asked them to analyze the transportation system and make cost-cutting recommendations.

As a preface to Cormier’s presentation, Assistant Superintendent Susan Pratt told selectmen about the district’s assessment systems. Although writing scores have declined systemwide, analysis of four years of data showed a gain of three to five points overall on the Maine Educational Assessment exams, she said. She attributed the decline in writing scores to a shift in focus to teaching other skills because, traditionally, SAD 9 students have strong writing skills. Overall, though, students’ scores are increasing.

“It indicates that something’s working and it’s working well,” she said.

She also reported that 200 students attended an extended year program last summer which provided individualized learning opportunities for students to attend from one day to five weeks, based on their goals and achievement of them.

It was very well-received by students, Pratt said, adding that many reported returning to school in the fall feeling like they had their heads above water. She said they anticipate continuing with the program.