Latest news with #MaineSchoolAdministrativeDistrict54
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Skowhegan-area school board approves $51.44M budget
Apr. 18—SKOWHEGAN — The Maine School Administrative District 54 board of directors approved a $51.44 million spending plan on Thursday that would come with an overall increase to property taxes of just over 2%. With the board's approval of the 2025-26 budget, it now goes to voters in the towns of Canaan, Cornville, Mercer, Norridgewock, Skowhegan and Smithfield to review and approve. The district budget meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. May 21 at the Skowhegan Area High School gymnasium. The total budget amount voters approve at that meeting then will go to voters again for the validation referendum, scheduled for June 10. The spending plan of $51,440,429 marks an increase over the current year of about $2,554,221, or 5.22%, budget figures show. Subtracting the costs construction of the new consolidated Margaret Chase Smith Community School and career and technical education, the spending increase is about $1.03 million, or 2.12%, over the current year. The $75 million school construction project is funded 100% by the state, Congressionally Directed Spending and local fundraising efforts; career and technical education is also 100% state-funded. The proposed budget factors in the use of a large amount of undesignated fund balance, $2.44 million. It also forecasts increasing revenues from other sources to offset taxation, like billing Medicare for more services, by $485,750. Factoring in revenue results in the 2.35% local property tax increase. Over the last seven budget cycles, the district has averaged a 2.17% increase to taxation. Superintendent of Schools Jonathan Moody noted that is well below the average U.S. inflation rate of 3.79%. "Very responsible and not easy," Moody said. The proposed budget includes 15 cuts to positions, Moody said. Other board-approved cost savings include the reduction of retirement benefits for some ed techs, an efficiency lighting project, moving to a private insurance plan for Maine's new paid family and medical leave requirement, and the assumption of administrative duties to reduce contracted service costs for unemployment benefits, according to Moody. There were few material costs that could be cut, Moody said. About 86% of the budget represents personnel costs like wages and benefits, budget documents show. Health insurance costs went up 5.19%. "Most of our spending is in the right places," Moody said. If voters approve the proposed budget in June, the assessments for each town would increase by the following amounts from the spending plan approved last year: —Canaan: $62,175, or 4.99% —Cornville: $14,682, or 1.62% —Mercer: $31,522, or 4.92% —Norridgewock: $91,714, or 4.40% —Skowhegan: $83,878, or 0.84% —Smithfield: $93,907, or 7.44% Inconsistent increases in state valuation among the district's six towns are why, even with a modest budget increase, some towns' taxpayers will be affected disproportionately in the proposed budget, Moody said. Each town pays its share through property taxes, and the amount each town pays is based on its property valuation calculated by the state as a percentage of the total state valuation for all six towns. Overall, the six towns' valuations went up about 10%, budget figures show. The increase, though, varied from town to town. Moody said he may recommend the district consider other factors in its cost-sharing formula, which is based only on property valuations from the state. That change requires a somewhat elaborate process outlined in statute, involving the participation of officials from the district's member towns. If the school board and towns pursue the change, Moody estimated completing it would take about a year. President Donald Trump's threats to cut federal funding for Maine schools also played into budget deliberations this spring. The threats came to the forefront after the public clash between Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, and Trump, a Republican, over transgender student participation in sports in Maine. The Maine Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on sex and gender identity, among other factors, which has been why the Maine Principals' Association, the governing body for high school sports in the state, allows students to compete in high school sports based on their gender identity. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Wednesday that the Department of Justice is suing Maine over the dispute. The Trump administration's Justice Department believes that Maine's law violates Title IX, a civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination at schools that receive federal funding. In MSAD 54, one board member, Wayne Wofford of Cornville, had proposed in March that the board vote to take an explicit stance on following federal orders over state law. An Aroostook County district took that step this week, believed to be the first school district to do so in Maine. The MSAD 54 board ultimately decided to table those discussions until after the budget process is finished. Even so, four residents asked the board to take action on the issue at its meeting Thursday. Board Chair Lynda Quinn, of Skowhegan, told them the board listens to concerns but does not typically respond to questions from the public during meetings. Moody has told the board of directors at multiple meetings that MSAD 54 policies are believed to comply with both federal and state laws. Its Title IX policies were not updated in recent years, while legal actions across the country were underway, he said. In his report later in the meeting, Moody did address the concerns brought by members of the public. He said Maine school superintendents met with representatives of the Maine Department of Education and the Office of the Maine Attorney General earlier Thursday. They were told that if a district takes an action against the Maine Human Rights Act, the state Human Rights Commission will take action against the district, Moody said. Moody also said state officials believe an individual school district's decision would not save it from any cuts to federal funding, as districts are subgrantees of the state for most federal dollars. For those reasons, Moody continued to recommend the board hold off on making any policy changes related to sex or gender discrimination in the hope that the state resolves the issue via the Legislature, the courts or through an agreement with the federal government. "We are not seeing a negative impact to any student in our district," he told the board. "There may be a situation where you as a board want to take action, and that is your prerogative. But the recommendation from the state and the recommendation from our attorney, and my recommendation, is not to do this. I do hope that the state is able to chart a course that doesn't negatively impact schools." Copy the Story Link
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Skowhegan-area school board tables Title IX talks, focuses on budget
Apr. 4—SKOWHEGAN — Maine School Administrative District 54's top administrator assured the district's board of directors that the Skowhegan-area district complies with both state and federal anti-discrimination laws, while urging the board not to conflate the contentious political discourse on the issue with local budget decisions. Conversations locally have been focusing on the public clash between Gov. Janet Mills and President Donald Trump over transgender student participation in sports and the Trump administration's subsequent threats to Maine's federal education funding, MSAD 54 Superintendent of Schools Jon Moody told the board of directors at its meeting Thursday. "They're using it, I think, quite frankly, as a red herring to encourage people to vote down the budget. And, I think that's sad," Moody said. "This board has worked incredibly hard to have a responsible budget." Moody's comments came as the 23-member board is expected to finalize its proposed budget later this month and about one month after a board member tried to call for a vote to take an explicit stance on following federal orders over state law. Wayne Wofford of Cornville, said at the March meeting he was concerned federal funding for the district could be jeopardized if its policies do not follow a directive from Trump aimed at barring transgender student-athletes assigned male at birth from competing on girls' teams. At that time, Moody told the board, which represents the district's six towns of Canaan, Cornville, Mercer, Norridgewock, Smithfield and Skowhegan, that MSAD 54 complies with Title IX, a civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination at schools that receive federal funding. District officials have not made updates to its Title IX policies in recent years, as administrators were waiting to see the outcome of legal challenges, Moody said. The district has no policy about athletics that mentions gender identity, Moody said, although its policies about harassment and discrimination include the term "gender identity" to comply with the Maine Human Rights Act. Moody told the board's policy committee on March 25 the district's legal counsel advised MSAD 54 is in compliance with both state and federal laws. The board's policy committee postponed discussing any policy changes until June. That would likely put off any action until after this year's budget is approved. A draft status quo budget — with no new areas of spending — shows an overall proposed spending plan totaling approximately $51.36 million, up about 5.05% over the current year. That figure has already been reduced about $1.24 million from the first draft presented earlier this year. About three-quarters of the increase is from employee wages and benefits and other personnel costs, budget figures show. The portion to be funded by local property taxes now stands at approximately $16.41 million, up about 1.89% over the current year. That total subtracts from the overall budget state funding for career and technical education and the bond for a new, consolidated elementary school in Skowhegan set to open this fall. The $75 million price tag for the school will be paid for entirely by the state, local fundraising efforts and Congressionally Directed Spending. The proposed budget also forecasts increased revenues, including increasing the use of undesignated fund balance to $1.77 million and increasing Medicaid billing for services to $600,000. The key figure remaining that has yet to be factored into the budget is the increase to employee health insurance plans, Moody said. The increase, which the district expects to know in coming weeks, could be anywhere from $200,000 to more than $1 million, he said. "Which means we're going to have to come right back to the table and look at cuts," Moody told the board. The board of directors will hold a budget workshop to discuss those potential cuts at 6 p.m. April 15 at Skowhegan Area High School. The board is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. April 17 at Skowhegan Area Middle School to vote on the budget it sends to voters later this spring. With board approval, the budget would then be up to voters of the district's six towns to review at the district's annual budget meeting, likely in late May. The total figure approved at that meeting would go to voters again for a yes or no referendum vote, likely in early June. Inconsistent increases in state valuation among the district's six towns mean that even with a modest budget increase, some towns will be affected disproportionately, Moody said. Moody's budget presentation showed what would happen with a 0% budget increase next year. Each town pays its share through property taxes, and the amount each town pays is based on its property valuation calculated by the state as a percentage of the total state valuation for all six towns. Overall, the six towns' valuations went up about 10%, budget figures show. The increase, though, varied from town to town. For example, the state valuation for Smithfield, one of the district's smaller towns, increased this year by 15.33%. The valuation for Skowhegan, the largest town, went up 8.46%. That means Smithfield would be assessed $63,000 more next year than it paid this year while Skowhegan would pay $147,000 less in the hypothetical scenario of no budget increase. "That is hard for a taxpayer to understand," Moody said. "And there is nothing you did and can do about it as a board." Moody said he may recommend the district consider other factors in its cost-sharing formula, which is currently based only on property valuations from the state. That change requires a somewhat elaborate process outlined in statute, involving the participation of officials from the district's member towns. If the school board and towns pursue the change, Moody estimated completing it would take about a year. Copy the Story Link
