AUGUSTA – Maine is slated to receive nearly $250 million for schools, plus potentially millions of dollars more in education grants, from the federal stimulus package. Money to help poor students. Money to improve buildings and technology. Money to keep and train teachers.

But Maine Education Commissioner Susan Gendron told 200 school superintendents and business managers Monday that the state still doesn’t know exactly how much each school system will get as the money’s doled out through 2011.

She and Gov. John Baldacci, however, did promise to restore the $27.8 million taken from schools to balance the state budget in November. They also said they would use chunks of the stimulus money to ensure schools won’t have to face such a curtailment again over the next two years.

“This will give us a chance to catch our breath,” Baldacci said.

During the three-hour special briefing Gendron discussed the various pots of money that will be available to schools, including additional funds to help with public preschool programs, to prevent layoffs and to upgrade school buildings. Gendron repeatedly emphasized two points: Schools will be held strictly accountable for how they spend their stimulus money and the money shouldn’t be used on major, long-term projects that schools won’t be able to afford once the stimulus money is gone.

“These are one-time funds. They are probably not going to be replaced, so we need to think smartly,” she said.

Because so many questions remain, including how much money each school system will get and how the state’s school funding formula will be configured in light of those new federal funds, some area superintendents didn’t yet have a plan for spending their coming stimulus money. They believe, though, the funds will likely help them prevent layoffs and will allow them to maintain a budget without asking for additional taxpayer money.

“This is not the year, in my mind, to go to citizens and ask for more money,” said Mark Eastman, superintendent of the Oxford-area’s SAD 17. “This is where I really think this money can help.”

They also have another option to consider: laptops. Gendron wants to expand the state’s middle school laptop program to include high schools. School systems would have to help pay for the computers with the technology money they get every year from the state.

The problem is that many schools use that money to pay for teacher training and technology specialists. If they paid for laptops, how would they fund their other technology needs?

Gendron told superintendents they could use the stimulus money. Some said they would think about it.

But no matter how much money they ultimately get, and whether it will be enough to pay for what they need, superintendents said they’ll be happy to at least get back the money they gave up in November. That’s a figure they know and can count on.

“It will bring us back to where we were,” said Lewiston Superintendent Leon Levesque, whose school system used savings and made cuts to supplies, books and other items in order to give back $500,000 in November.

SAD 17 also gave up $500,000. Most of that came from budget cuts. About $70,000 came from workers who volunteered to work for free or give back some of their pay.

Now that the school system is getting that money back, some have said they’d like the money returned to them. Others would like to school system to keep it. Eastman said he will talk to the 380 workers about their preferences and come to a decision over the next week or two.

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