FARMINGTON — The Regional School Unit 9 administration presented the budget for the 2024/2025 fiscal year at a district budget meeting on Thursday, April 11. Directors were present along with members of the public in an open forum to discuss budget items and the changes from the previous year’s budget.

The proposed budget comes to a grand total of $45,155,670, an increase of exactly $3,445,002 from the previous year’s budget [$41,710,668 for 2023/2024]. The percent increase is 8.26%, but Superintendent Christian Elkington stated taxpayers will only be responsible for 4.45%.

The 10 articles presented at the meeting are:

• Article One: Regular instruction – $12,692,567 [+12.53%]

• Article Two: Special education – $8,266,470 [+1.76%]

• Article Three: Career and technical education – $4,082,632 [+23.92%]

• Article Four: Student and staff support – $3,819,656 [+15.69%]

• Article Five: Other instruction – $681,024 [+20.93%]

• Article Six: System administration – $1,608,093 [+12.48%]

• Article Seven: School administration – $1,948,613 [+6.18%]

• Article Eight: Transportation and buses – $2,927,159 [+0.51%]

• Article Nine: Facilities maintenance – $5,187,663 [+4.56%]

• Article Ten: Debt service and other commitments – $3,941,793 [-1.70%]

During the discussion of the budget, Elkington emphasized the use of Balance-Forward funds that will be used to offset certain increases among the different budget items.

The Balance-Forward plan, which according to Elkington is made of previous budget savings by applying a three-year system-plan to reduce possible tax increases, is one of five objectives that Elkington hopes to communicate to the community in the coming weeks.

Those other objectives also include continued support of student academic, social emotional, behavioral, and family needs; meeting negotiated wages and benefit increases and overall effects of inflation; continuing current district programming options; and developing new funding revenue sources to help reduce future increases for special education cost needs.

The current total of RSU 9’s Balance-Forward account is $5,063,813, with the district allocating $2,980,000 among the different budget items.

From the account, $250,000 will be used to create a building renovation account for a building renovation fund set for 2027/2028; $250,000 will be put towards reserve account increases; $1,045,000 for new long-term and one year positions, including three teaching and three education technician positions; $385,000 for building and grounds projects for 2024/2025, including unfinished work at the Bjorn Center for Career and Technical Education; and $1,050,000 was put towards reducing taxes for the budget.

Among the new positions that were discussed was a family engagement coordinator position, which has $100,000 of Balance-Forward funds allocated towards Article Four.

Director Jeff Barnum of New Vineyard asked what the duties of the position would be, to which Elkington directed the question to Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, Curriculum & Grants Monique Poulin.

“It came from a couple different places,” Poulin told the board. “The first piece was that Chris had asked elementary principals what they might need for support.”

According to Poulin, one portion of the position will be to engage with families and students to help with attendance and student services, as well as working with the RSU 9 community and McKinney/Vento responsibilities.

“We hope that this person is going to relate to the center for coordinated services,” Elkington elaborated, “instead of five principals, from five guidance counselors and social workers. We want this person to be the center of that to help coordinate the communication and the opportunities that we might be able to find it.”

Director Janice David of Farmington questioned the level of duties involved with the position for just one individual to fulfill, calling it “a really big job for one person.”

Elkington elaborated on this, agreeing that the duties were a “big job” for one person, that the position is designed to “help coordinate” but “not necessarily to help follow through.”

“So [a principal] and [its] guidance counselor will now have to take on some of that,” Elkington stated. “[The family engagement coordinator] helps coordinate and pull them in, but they won’t necessarily see that all the way through.”

In Article Nine, the budget also includes an adjustment to the Holman House maintenance cost. Originally projected to be $20,000, the maintenance cost is now budgeted for $27,000.

The Holman Mission House, located at 227 Main Street in Farmington, was purchased by the district last year after voters in November supported the purchase. During a public hearing in October of last year, one Farmington resident stated he felt $20,000 was “woefully short” in the cost for maintaining the building.

The board of directors will review and adopt the final draft of the budget at the next scheduled meeting on Tuesday, April 23, with the warrant articles being delivered to the towns at the beginning of May.

Copy the Story Link