GRAY – The SAD 15 school board on Wednesday adopted a $17,934,692 budget for 2005-06 to fund education for roughly 2000 students in Gray and New Gloucester. That would be a 4.98 percent increase over this year.
In addition, two separate warrant articles seek additional funds from voters. An all-day kindergarten program at $166,084 is requested again. It failed to pass by a small margin last year. Also, $50,000 in local money is requested to fund a portion of the district’s Adult Education program, which has a total budget of $102,900.
A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for May 25. The referendum-style vote will take place at the polls in Gray and New Gloucester on June 14.
The net result of the budget is a lower mill rate impact on taxpayers in Gray and New Gloucester despite $850,214 in increased spending.
State General Purpose Aid for SAD 15 in 2005-06 totals $8,182,242, an increase of $1,677,149. And, the total assessed value of Gray at $650,000,000 and New Gloucester at $390,000,000 will bring additional revenues to both communities.
Gray’s local share of the budget is $5,628,163, which will result on an estimated mill rate of $8.66, or $1.04 less than the current rate.
In New Gloucester, the local share to be raised by taxes is $2,771,827, which would result in a mill rate estimated at $7.11, or $1.21 less than the current rate.
New Gloucester’s share of the budget is 33 percent and Gray’s share is 67 percent.
The budget will fund additional staff: a high school assistant principal, health/physical education teacher at the middle school, increased high school secretary time, increased nurse assistant time, added secretarial help for the director of improvement of instruction, and a traffic officer at the high school.
In other business, the board approved a plan to dispose of the Pennell Institute in downtown Gray. The building is no longer needed by the district and is part of an educational trust formed in 1870. SAD 15 is the owner of the trust. The trust that was set up by Henry Pennell to benefit the education of Gray.
When SAD 15 was formed, the trust fell under the jurisdiction of Maine’s attorney general.
The district agreed by a vote of 8 to 2 to enter into an agreement to turn the building over to the Gray Public Library Association, a private, nonprofit charitable group.
The Gray library is seeking to expand its current space and is interested in taking over Pennell Institute.
The plan is subject to approval by the Gray Town Council, the Gray Library Trustees, SAD 15 and the attorney general. The library association will bring the matter forward to the attorney general if all parties agree.
There is currently an injunction by the Gray Town Council against the district, which was filed several years ago in its effort to have the building returned to the town at no cost. Efforts to come up with a suitable plan to protect the assets of the trust and satisfy Gray in the dispute has the district seeking remedy.
“Irregardless of how the Gray Town Council votes, we show a good faith effort to move forward,” said Gray board member Peter Pinkerton.
The district has until June 30, when the injunction expires, to give the interested parties time to solve the impasse. The injunction prevents the district from trying to transfer the building.
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