Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

City schools plan would cut 80 jobs

Superintendent Jim Morse outlines a budget that is forced to deal with losses in state and federal aid.

By Kelley Bouchard kbouchard@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

PORTLAND — Eighty positions in Portland's school system would be eliminated by the $89.3 million budget that the superintendent proposed Wednesday night for the coming year.

The targeted positions are: 44 teachers, 22 educational technicians, six secretaries, five food service workers, two custodial or maintenance staff members, and one administrator. Nearly half of those positions are now filled.

Superintendent Jim Morse said nearly 42 positions would be eliminated through retirements, saving about $1.5 million in the budget that starts July 1.

Cutting the remaining 38 positions would save more than $3 million. Morse said none of those employees deserves to be cut.

"They're losing their jobs for no other reason than we just can't pay for them," Morse said to an audience of more than 150 people at Portland Arts and Technology High School.

Morse's $89.3 million proposal is $2 million less than the budget that the School Committee passed last spring for the current school year.

However, it's actually about $700,000 higher than current spending. A $2.7 million mid-year reduction was made in the 2009-10 budget.

Morse's proposal reflects a reduction in state and federal funding for 2010-11 that was expected to be about $6 million.

But on Wednesday afternoon, Gov. John Baldacci restored $20 million in education aid statewide because of higher projected state revenue.

School Committee Chairman Peter Eglinton said the committee will decide in the coming weeks how Portland's $1.35 million share of the additional state funding will be used.

Under Morse's proposal, the amount to be raised by property taxes is up $1.7 million -- 2.5 percent -- from $66.7 million for the budget passed last spring to $68.3 million in the coming school year.

The additional state money could be used to offset an estimated 22-cent increase in the property tax rate, which would add $44 to the tax bill on a $200,000 home.

"I'm looking forward to a full discussion about how this new funding will affect us," Eglinton said.

Steven Scharf, president of the Portland Taxpayers' Association, said Morse's budget is a good start.

"We would expect that the $1.35 million (in additional state aid) will be used to offset the tax burden rather than restoring positions," Scharf said.

Fifteen of the eliminated teaching positions in Morse's budget would come from the special education program -- recently the subject of a critical consultants' review that recommended cutting nearly 40 of the 239 positions.

Morse didn't discuss the consultants' report. However, he did note that Portland spends $10,875 to educate each of its 7,000 students, compared with $9,624 per student statewide, excluding special education costs. Including special education costs, Portland spends $19,248 to educate each student.

The audience applauded at the end of Morse's hour-long presentation, which highlighted efforts to improve the staff's accountability and students' performance. But not everyone was pleased with his proposal.

"The proposed cuts are too deep," said Kathy St. Clair, vice president of the Portland teachers' union. As alternatives, St. Clair suggested closing a school, reducing spending for athletics and cutting administration.

Melissa Burke, a parent of two Lyseth Elementary School students, including one who receives special education services, said, "I want to make sure the special education cuts aren't in conflict with special education laws."

Morse said he started with spending requests totaling $95.6 million.

Reductions other than personnel cuts included $800,000 for health insurance; $316,000 for food services, $250,000 for transportation; $200,000 for high school freshman sports; and $188,300 for middle school sports.

The freshman sports program would be absorbed into the junior varsity program. Teams from the city's three middle schools would compete among themselves or through other youth sports programs in the city.

A public hearing on Morse's proposal will be held at 7 p.m. Monday in the Hall Elementary School gym.

Staff Writer Kelley Bouchard can be reached at 791-6328 or at:

kbouchard@pressherald.com