Staff Writer

Legislators and educators met in Augusta last week to discuss possible alternatives to Gov. John Baldacci’s proposed $27 million curtailment to the current state education budget.

According to Maine Department of Education numbers released Nov. 21, the cut in general purpose aid would mean a $537,522 reduction in state aid received by Maine School Administrative District 71, approximately a 15.2 percent cut in the middle of the fiscal year. 

As educators and administrators in the school district search for ways to cut the current budget MSAD 71 does not stand alone, as nearly 20 other communities in the state have received a “hard hit,” Kennebunkport Town Manager Larry Mead said. 

When deciding a formula to determine state wide budget cuts, Mead said the Department of Education used the same formula based on property value used to determine allocations at the beginning of each budget season. He said of 270 communities, 40 communities are absorbing 40 percent of the proposed cuts with about a dozen communities facing a 15 percent decrease in state aid. 

In an effort to urge an alternative distribution of the $27 million in budget cuts across school districts, Mead said he has contacted other communities who are seeing cuts similar to MSAD 71, including Cape Elizabeth — facing a shortfall of $421,500 or 13.7 percent cut to state aid should the proposed curtailment be approved.

“There is some movement afoot to say, ‘Instead of using the Department of Education methodology which resulted in hard hits, there are better ways for the Department of Education to parcel it out,’” Cape Elizabeth Councilor Anne Swift-Kayatta said. “If you basically figure an even percentage, it would be 2 to 3 percent cut to each community.”

“I’m trying to get interest on the part of the communities hardest hit,” Mead said. “I went to Augusta on Tuesday [Jan. 6] and a number of people spoke. They didn’t feel the way the curtailment is being done is appropriate.”

While the state is curtailing the budget mid-year, Mead said it is impossible for communities to go back to residents to increase taxes to compensate for the reduction in state aid. Mead said he is concerned legislators from communities that haven’t received large cuts will not support legislators who are proposing an alternative, more equal curtailment. 

“Everybody’s in the same box, and we should be treated the same. It doesn’t matter if we’re a high value community, it’s an equal amount of pain,” Mead said.  

Rep. Alan Casavant (D-Kennebunkport) said representatives of the towns hit the hardest need to work together to convince the Department of Education and other committees working on the curtailment that the current process is unfair. 

“Commissioner [Susan] Gendron and the Department of Education believes their method is fair, but under the proposal some [school] systems are getting clobbered,” Casavant said. 

He has been speaking with representatives from communities where schools were affected the most and working toward a different solution. One idea is to tinker with the funding formula, but with the time constraints Casavant said the process would be “too cumbersome.” Another idea that Casavant said is more feasible is to use a percentage freeze, capping cuts at 5 percent. 

“The problem is if you freeze everybody the Department of Education won’t have as large a cut, so where can we make up that money?” Casavant said. 

Casavant was headed to Augusta Tuesday in hopes of working toward a resolution. He said the Department of Education planned to have curtailment amounts decided by today. 

Meanwhile, MSAD 71 is working to cut money out of the current budget any way they can, Business Administrator Jim Barnes said. 

“We’re scrambling just like every other school district. The monies to be allocated are what the budget is based on. To cut that mid point in the year doesn’t leave a lot of room,” Barnes said. 

Currently, the district is taking several steps to cut spending based on the estimated $537,522 they won’t receive, Barnes said. These steps include holding off on capital purchases, freezing district sponsored field trips, reducing purchasing of all books and periodicals except in the library, collecting dues and fees, reducing general and instructional supplies, reducing repairs and maintenance scheduled for the district’s property and reducing funding for athletic and intramural programs. 

“The legislators have a lot of work to do,” Barnes said. “It is wonderful community members are doing what they can for a more equitable share, but we are basing our decisions on the amount we’ve been told. We haven’t been told it will change.”