BIDDEFORD — Residents and school staff spoke against proposed reductions to Biddeford schools on Thursday, during a public hearing at the Biddeford Middle School.
After listening to their input, the School Committee gave preliminary approval to a $32.1 million budget for the 2013-14 school year. This would add about 3.3 percent to the mil rate, or about $55 to the property tax for a home valued at $200,000.
The budget that was approved does not include many of the potential position and stipend cuts that were discussed at meeting earlier this week. Instead, it is almost identical to a budget proposed by Superintendent of Schools Jeremy Ray on Feb. 26. The new figure is $114,000 less than Ray’s initial recommendation, taking into account the likely reduction of the anticipated cost of health insurance and some other adjustments.
Although a budget was passed, Mayor Alan Casavant, who is also chairman of the School Committee, said committee members have about two months to continue discussions and make changes to the budget, which it will then recommend to the City Council.
With increased education costs, reduced revenue from state subsidies and less carryover from the previous year, the committee and residents will face a difficult decision when considering the upcoming budget, said Casavant.
“This is going to be a budget no one is going to like,” he said.
Residents will have to decide what they want to pay for and what they can afford, said Casavant. He encouraged the public to be vocal about what they want.
Many people were vocal on Thursday. Almost all who spoke said they were against many of the potential staff cuts to nurses, librarians, language and music teachers and stipends that would affect a number of areas, especially seventh- and ninth-grade sports.
The proposed elimination of two of five registered nurse positions, to be replaced with licensed practical nurses, would hurt students, said Bobbi-Jo St. Peter, the nurse at the John F. Kennedy Kindergarten Center. For instance, she said, there is a student who requires daily health assessments, which a licensed practical nurse isn’t qualified to conduct. Being able to provide those assessments allows that student as well as other students who suffer from asthma, diabetes and other illnesses to stay in school.
Patty Remillard, a librarian at the Kennedy school and at the intermediate school for fourth- and fifth-graders, spoke against eliminating two librarian positions to be replaced by library education technicians. She talked about the important role librarians play in education.
Several students also spoke up. High school senior Tom Laverriere spoke in support of retaining a foreign language teacher, whose position was proposed to be eliminated. Senior Katie Delacourt also spoke against making cuts in the language program, as well as a proposal to reduce a music position at the high school to half-time.
Resident Lynn Drapeau, who has two daughters who graduated from Biddeford High School and who she said were very active and successful during the school careers, said some of the reductions being considered could reduce the Biddeford educational experience to mediocrity.
Some parents, like Jeff Cook, said they would consider moving from Biddeford to provide greater educational opportunities for their children if significant programs were eliminated because of budget cuts.
However, not everyone was opposed to reducing the school budget.
Resident Clement Fleurent said while he wants the best for the city’s children, many people can’t afford a tax increase. He said a salary freeze should be considered as a way to save more than $500,000.
School Committee members debated whether to support budget figures that would raise the mil rate between 2 and 4 percent. Committee member Jim Emerson said it was the committee’s responsibility to propose a budget that will best serve the city’s students, but committee member Lisa Vadnais said she was concerned that if the budget increase is too high, the public won’t support it.
In addition, she said, it was difficult to make a decision without knowing exactly how much the state subsidy to the school will be, as well as other variables, like whether a potential $408,000 cost shift from the state to the city to pay for Maine State Retirement benefits would take place.
The budget that was approved does not include the staff and stipend cuts that most spoke against. The committee still has two months to discuss the budget before taking a final vote on May 16.
The City Council will then consider the budget and could make its own changes. The budget approved by the council will go out to a public referendum. Residents must approve the budget before it is final. Last year, it took four attempts before a budget was finally approved.
— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.
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