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 Local news and information from Castine and Penobscot, Maine. |
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News Feature
by Anne Berleant The 2012-13 budget was the focus of the school board meeting on Monday, December 12. Superintendent Mark Hurvitt and Principal Allen Cole presented a first draft for review that showed a .4 percent decrease from last year, with teacher, staff and principal salary adjustments still under negotiation. Around $20,000 was included for an ed tech II, to spend three days in pre-K and two days in the RTI (response to intervention) program. Hurvitt said that numbers will change as the board, Cole and he work on finalizing the budget. Three sessions devoted to the budget have been scheduled in December and January outside of the board’s regular monthly meetings, before the town votes on the budget at town meeting on March 6. Several parents and two teachers were present to voice their support for the school. In addition, Luki Hewitt, of the Education Future Committee, gave her report. The citizen committee, which formed to discuss ways to minimize expenses and improve quality at the school, has met twice since the board’s November meeting in order to nail down its budget recommendations. The committee regularly offers its suggestions to the board for consideration. First, Hewitt complimented the board on being “fiscally responsible,” noting that the budget hasn’t changed in five years. Cost to Penobscot taxpayers has increased in recent years because of a steady decrease in state subsidies that traditionally help to off-set local funds in the budget. Hewitt then turned to the 2012-13 school year budget. While the citizen committee strongly supports adding a pre-K program, it does not want to see the budget raised to accomplish this. “As a group, there was a consensus not to increase the school budget,” she said. Moving forward, Hewitt said the committee would concentrate on ideas for change. “One way to attract young families to our town is to create a school system that’s more innovative,” she said, a concept that several of those present embraced. “For the past five years, we’ve done a good job on the budget,” parent Sandra Goodman said. “But how much does the community want to invest in the school to make it a vibrant place? Your assets aren’t going to grow without investment.” “For that to happen, everyone has to be on board,” said Cole. In other business, Hurvitt said that a state subsidy of around $28,000 will come to Penobscot next year, as a result of a legislative ruling removing the penalty for non-consolidated schools. “It’s a fluid number,” he noted. He also updated board members on the parking lot expansion project, approved by voters nearly five years ago. At that time, $20,000 was placed in a reserve account, but the project was then delayed by needed work on the school’s overboard discharge system. Land use consultant Hugh Durgin is close to filing impact statements with the Department of Environmental Protection and other agency paperwork so the necessary permits can be issued. Durgin is retiring at the end of this year, “but will see this project through,” Hurvitt said. “This is getting very close to being done.” “As long as it’s moving forward,” Chairman Jerry Markley said. Parents attending the meeting questioned spending money outside the building rather than inside, on school programs. “The parking lot should not be the priority of the board,” Jamie MacNair said. “In this economy, we should fix the parking lot we’ve got.” Safety is the reason behind the lot expansion, Markley said, with parking across the street, in front of the fire department, and in the school bus turnaround a regular occurrence at school and town functions held at the school. Also, a 2006 survey completed by Oakpoint Company for state certification of the building found insufficient parking for staff and school needs. “The board has been committed to the parking lot project for a long time,” Hurvitt said. “If you want to kill this project, that’s fine,” said Markley. “But [the money] has to stay in the reserve account” [unless voted otherwise]. The town must vote to spend money from a reserve account, or if it does not spend reserve funds for its intended purpose, another vote would be needed to transfer the money to a different account. “I want to leave it in there,” said board member Karrie Prescott. Finally, Hurvitt called upon “someone interested in inter-town politics” to represent Penobscot on the Union 93 subcommittee formed to explore the possibility of Brooklin and Sedgwick joining the union, and Markley stepped forward. With Deer Isle-Stonington considering leaving Union 76, the two other schools in the union are exploring their options. The board then went into executive session for labor contract negotiations. Special meetings to work on the 2012-13 budget will be held on Monday, December 19, at 7 p.m. and Thursday, January 5, at 5 p.m. The next regularly scheduled board meeting is on Monday, January 9, at 6 p.m., with all meetings held at the school. |
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