RUMFORD – Superintendent Jim Hodgkin unveiled a $14.7 million budget to SAD 43 directors Monday that will be pared down before going to voters.
“This is not the budget we expect you to endorse,” he told the board. “I expect at least $300,000 in cuts.”
As presented, the gross figure is $14.7 million, up from $14 million last year. He said he hopes for a 3 percent increase from last year, which would be about $14.4 million.
With more state aid to education, he said a proposed $14.4 million 2006-07 budget would result in a decrease in school taxes for all four member towns.
“Rumford’s savings would be substantial,” he said, without being specific.
The board will begin reviewing the proposed budget page-by-page at 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 27, in the library of Mountain Valley High School.
Among the items up for review are a number of proposed new teaching positions. These include a districtwide technology educational technician, two alternative education teachers at the middle school, a Jobs for Maine Graduates position and part-time math teacher at the high school, a second-grade teacher at Rumford Elementary School, a special-education technician for Meroby Elementary School, and several coaches at the middle and high schools.
Two part-time coordinators to help serve students with academic needs who don’t qualify for special education are also in the budget.
The total needed for all positions is about $321,000. The costs for several positions are also being eliminated, including two regular teachers at the middle school, which should offset some of the new position total.
Several other positions, particularly for special education and the Pennacook Learning Center day treatment program, are also proposed. These would be funded through federal money.
A final proposed budget should be approved by the board within two months. Voters in the district’s towns of Rumford, Mexico, Roxbury and Byron will vote on the school budget in June.
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