By Kenneth Roberts,Special to the Sun Journal

TURNER – The public hearing on SAD 52’s budget will be held Monday at the Greene Central School, with the district budget vote set for Thursday, June 15, at Turner’s Leavitt Area High School. Both sessions start at 7 p.m.

In presenting the $21.44 million budget to voters, board Chairwoman Elizabeth Bullard of Turner said it “best balances the delivery of quality of services with fiscal responsibility.”

Superintendent Thomas Hanson said, “We will be asking taxpayers of Greene, Leeds and Turner for approximately $139,000 more than was requested a year ago.”

Hanson said the budget proposal is an “increase of $816,191, or 3.96 percent” over current spending despite an increase of 40 percent in fuel costs, and hikes in health insurance, special education costs and negotiated salaries.

Voting a one-year termination of the River Valley School’s alternative education program and introducing all-day kindergarten in the fall of 2006 were two major decisions by the board this year that have had nearly offsetting effects on the budget.

Approval of the state’s essential programs and services funding is required during Thursday’s voting. EPS model funding, its proponents claim, is designed to provide the necessary funding for students to meet Maine Learning Results testing. It appears in the warrant as Article 5: Local Additional Funds.

The proposed budget is $945,823 over the state EPS model, and Hanson contends that is because:

• Co-curricular support under EPS is provided only for academic offerings – no funds are provided for athletics, which contributes $275,000 to the overage.

• This school year, the EPS figure for operations and maintenance of facilities increase by only $15,000 while SAD 52 expenses increased $251,000. That causes the operations and maintenance lines of the budget proposal to be $298,000 over the state EPS figures.

• Major funding reductions were made in the state’s EPS funding for the district after its enrollment dropped by 40 students.

Hanson says that despite issues with the EPS, two of the three communities – Greene and Leeds – will have a lower tax assessment for education for the second consecutive year, and the district’s per pupil expenditure of $7,270.26, excluding transportation and debt service, continues to be under the state average of $7,761.24.

The class of 2008 will be the first graduating class required to meet Learning Results.

Until then it will be uncertain what level of funding is needed for students to reach the goal established in the EPS model.

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