FARMINGTON – SAD 9 administrators revealed a proposed $21.7 million budget to directors, administrators, staff and several area selectmen at their meeting Tuesday.
The 2005-2006 proposal is 2.3 percent higher than this year’s, but Superintendent Michael Cormier said the local tax commitment will be reduced more than $130,000.
The projected state subsidy increased about $550,000, he wrote in an overview of the document.
Some proposed adjustments include:
• Elimination of three elementary teaching positions, keeping class sizes in kindergarten through grade 6 at about 20, and in class sizes in grades 7 and 8 at about 22.
• Elimination of five educational technicians in special education.
• An increase in the operational and maintenance budget, including an increase of $250,000 in fuel and several “major maintenance issues” at Mt. Blue High School and Foster Regional Applied Technology Center.
• The tech center’s budget reflects an increase of about $10,000 for the certified nursing assistant instructor, a position partially funded through a grant previously, and $12,000 for the firefighting program.
“The administrative team worked to cut over $400,000 from a budget that would have maintained the status quo,” wrote Cormier. “Over 78 percent of the district budget is allocated to salaries and benefits, so the only way to realize significant savings is through adjustments to staffing. It is with mixed emotions that I present this budget. It continues to make pretty drastic adjustments to staff and places additional responsibility on teachers and administrators who are already overworked,” he continued.
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