MEXICO — A vote on the 2023-24 budget for Vocational Region 9 will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 3, at the school at 377 River Road.

Voters in the 16 towns served by Region 9 School of Applied Technology who have not preregister with their town for the May 3 meeting must bring a notarized letter from their town clerk stating they are registered to vote.

The 16 towns who send students to the school are Rumford, Mexico, Roxbury, Hanover, Bethel, Newry, Woodstock, Greenwood, Dixfield, Canton, Carthage, Peru, Andover, Byron, Gilead and Upton.

The proposed a $2.4 million budget was approved by the board of directors April 5, Brenda Gammon, director of the school said. That is $399,727 more than this fiscal year’s budget of $2.02 million.    

After subtracting a state subsidy increase increase of $304,059 from the total budget, the school is “asking for an increase of $88,183 in local funding,” Gammon said in an email on April 24 to the Rumford Times.

She said there are increases in heat, electrical services, supplies, insurance and salaries. Other increases in the budget reflect “new programming, and the salaries and benefits for these new positions, as well as additional staffing to support increased enrollment (for 2023-24) nearly double our current enrollment,” Gammon said.

“The major concern I and several of us Region 9 board members have is around the administration wage increases,” Rumford Director Greg Buccina said. The annual increases range from $6,000 to $12,000 from secretaries to the school administrator, he said. Gammon refutes Buccina’s statement in her letter to the Rumford Times regarding wage increases. “Only one proposed salary increase is over $6,000. It is not in administration,” she said.

“Another concern is that there are no year-to-date expenditures listed on the budget sheets,” Buccina said. “What you see is what was budgeted for 2023 and the projected budget for 2024.

“The bottom line is that the taxpayers of the surrounding schools pay for all programming, activities and wages for this school and an approximate 18% increase in a budget deserves more scrutiny than has been or is currently (being given) right now,” he said.

Region 9’s adult education program has a proposed budget of $429,880 for 2023-24. That’s $32,025 more than this year.

Of that increase, $316,999 would be paid by the 16 towns and the remaining $112,881 from government subsidy, tuition from students not from the district schools, and carryover from this year. 

The district hired Maine School Administrative District 44 Superintendent David Murphy of Bethel as adult education director beginning July 1.

He succeeds Sue Brennan who resigns in June, Mexico Director Peter DeFilipp said. Pending budget approval, Murphy’s salary is negotiated at $79,825 beginning fiscal year 2024, which begins July 1.

Brennan’s salary was $48,039 this year for the same schedule, according to Gammon.

As of March 30, the school had 187 students in its general education program with courses in automotive technology, building construction, certified nursing assistant, computer technology, culinary arts, early childhood education, fire science, metal trades, outdoor skills and leadership, and an introduction to career and technical education.

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