SALEM TOWNSHIP — School board directors and administrators have adopted Regional School Unit 58’s proposed budget of $9.19 million to operate the district in the coming school year. 

The budget meeting, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 31, at Mt. Abram High School, will be the last chance for voters to review, ask questions and make changes before the final budget goes to the municipal polls on June 14.

Directors have spent the past two months deliberating the financial obligations and options in the district’s many cost centers. Among the yearly unknowns are the costs of fuel, insurance and salaries.

The good news for voters in the RSU 58 towns of Kingfield, Strong, Avon and Phillips, according to Superintendent Susan Pratt, is that this year’s budget is down by about 2.3 percent from last year’s budget of $9.41 million.

At the budget meeting, voters in the four towns must agree to share any costs not covered by the Maine Department of Education.

After calculating anticipated revenues and expenses, the directors determined the proposed share for each town:

• Phillips, $844,233;

• Strong, $873,121;

• Kingfield, $1.4 million; and

• Avon, $421,410.

This division of each town’s share is based on the property valuation the Maine Department of Revenue assigns to each town.

Next year’s proposed costs include:

• Beginning work on roof repair at Kingfield Elementary School, $15,000; 

• Part-time elementary school social worker,$34,200; and

• Additional nurses’ hours at the elementary schools, $9,000. 

Because Director of Guidance Mike Ellis is retiring this year, school board directors approved decreasing that salary and benefits by $17,800 and hiring a school counselor next year.

Directors also approved:

• A $4,000 increase for technology secretarial support; and

• A $13,600 decrease in school secretarial support at Mt. Abram High School.

High school students next year will be using Apple laptops instead of iPads, which will add $17,700 to the budget. The iPads will be assigned to elementary school students.

Debt service costs will decline, now that long-term construction loans have been repaid. The Stratton Elementary School loan has been paid in full, Pratt said.

When Eustis left the district three years ago, it assumed ownership and debt of the Stratton building. Since the loan originated with RSU 58, the Flagstaff Regional School Unit has paid the annual debt service to the district, which then sends the payment to the mortgage holder. Pratt noted that this also will be the last year of payments on the Strong Elementary School loan.

Many of the salary decreases this year, Pratt said, were reflected in last year’s turnover of staff and administrators at the higher end of the salary range. The district has contracted its adult education program services to the Mt. Blue Regional School District, so the proposed costs next year will be $16,500. The board approved paying for a technology education teacher, hired by the Foster Career and Technical Education Center, to work with Mt. Abram students next year.

Directors agreed that the limits of the current two-year program that allows only junior and senior students to travel to the Mt. Blue Campus was not adequate to include those students who were interested in trade careers. After a two-year funding commitment by the district, the Maine Department of Education will reimburse costs for the position.

“The overall budget shows a significant decrease in expenditures and a concerted effort to contain costs,” Pratt said. “I celebrate the work of the board on this budget and cannot say enough about the focus they had on students.”