LEWISTON – The commissioner of education says school funding for next year may be frozen at this year’s level, and school officials fear that would result in cuts to programs or positions.

Maine Education Commissioner Susan Gendron warned school superintendents this week that because of the national economic crisis and the potential effect on state revenue, Gov. John Baldacci has asked all state agencies to submit budgets with 10 percent reductions.

“That would result in a very large reduction to (General Purpose Aid to Education),” Gendron said, noting that the bulk of the Education Department’s budget is state aid for K-12 schools.

She will not submit a budget with a 10 percent GPA reduction, but will propose a budget that freezes funding, she said.

That would mean the state would not meet its goal of providing 55 percent of K-12 education costs by July 1, 2009, and would stay at the current 53 percent level. Statewide, the 2 percent difference would represent a loss to schools of $170 million over the next two years, Gendron wrote in a letter to superintendents.

“This is not good news,” SAD 9 Assistant Superintendent Susan Pratt said Thursday.

Because of rising costs – salaries, health care and energy – frozen General Purpose Aid may translate into cuts in Farmington-area schools, Pratt said.

Jim Rier, the education department’s finance director, predicted a challenging period, not only in the next two years, but in the current school year. “We just don’t know how that will play out.”

Cuts may be necessary for the current year, he said. That will be better known in November after the state’s revenue forecasting is updated.

For now, he recommends that school administrators carefully look at spending. “I’d start now and not wait for the next few months,” he said.

Oxford Hills Superintendent Mark Eastman said he was not surprised by Gendron’s letter. The potential freeze reminded him of the Gov. John McKernan “nightmare” when state education money was flat-funded for several years in the 1990s.

Another freeze would have the greatest impact on districts that could least afford it, Eastman said. “My district would be an example of that.”

Schools in less-affluent areas that receive more money from the state could end up cutting teaching positions, while richer districts could merely cut back on field trips, he said.

Auburn School Committee member Thomas Kendall has asked Superintendent Tom Morrill to warn city schools to prepare for less.

Lewiston is well-positioned for a freeze because of the way budgets have been developed, Lewiston School Committee member James Handy said.

“We returned millions to the city,” he said.

Much of the increase in recent years from the state was not spent on programs but returned to taxpayers. Because that money was not built into the budget, Lewiston schools “won’t go unscathed” but would fundamentally remain sound, Handy said.

Poland area Superintendent Dennis Duquette, who oversees schools in Poland, Minot and Mechanic Falls, said his district had already made more than $500,000 in cuts as required by the state consolidation law.

“We’re learning how to run a system that’s more efficient, to make do with less,” Duquette said. “Now, if the state flat-lines us or drops funding, it will have an impact.”

For Leavitt Area High School Principal Patrick Harnett, it’s a matter of priorities. “Are you able to fund the things essential to run a school well?” he asked.

It was too early to know if it would mean cuts at the Turner school, Harnett said. “We don’t know what our diesel, oil and electricity costs are going to be,” he said. “It’s going to be difficult.”

K-12 education spending in Maine:

2005: $737 million

2006: $836 million

2007: $914 million

2008: $978 million

2009: $986 million

Due to the economic climate, the $986 million Maine taxpayers are spending on K-12 education this year could be frozen for the next two years.

L-A schools:

Auburn schools are getting $17.94 million in state funding for the 2008-09 school year, an increase of $379,328 over the previous year.

Lewiston schools are getting $30.16 million in state funding, an increase of $705,633.

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