A year after a debate about the affect a town spending cap has had on the school budget, Cape Elizabeth town councilors and members of the school board are still divided over the cap.

Monday night, Rebecca Millet, a school board member, argued her case before the council for a spending increase higher than the council is leaning toward.

She said that while using the Consumer Price Index might be appropriate for determining the limits of the municipal budget, it should not be used to determine the school budget. The Consumer Price Index is a measure of the average change in prices over time in a market basket of goods and services. The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the data monthly.

Millet, who has a background in finance, developed her own “rough analysis” of a price index for the school district, which concluded that a 3.4 percent increase would be appropriate for the school budget, not the 2.5 percent that the town uses as a target. Though Millet emphasized that the number she came to was not an exact calculation, she said her purpose was to provide an “illustration that it is possible to reflect more accurately the costs of the school district.”

Councilor Mary Ann Lynch then motioned to recess the council meeting in order to hold the finance committee meeting that was scheduled for later in the night, since she supposed the majority of the meeting attendees had come for the financial discussion. The motion was approved. Before the meeting recessed, Lynch announced the finance committee would “not be taking any action.”

Councilor Anne Swift-Kayata said she was firmly committed to sticking to 2.5 percent spending cap. “What I’ve heard from Mike (McGovern, town manager) is we can do what needs to be done at 2.5 percent,” she said. “I will be keeping my pledge.”

Council Chairman Paul McKenney was more swayed by Millet’s presentation. He expressed his concern that Cape Elizabeth schools were falling into a pack, rather than striving ahead.

“We are not the best school system anymore,” McKenney said.

Without providing money the school has determined necessary to keep up the quality of education, “we will continue to fight to stay even,” he said.

Swift-Kayata argued that the schools’ consistently high test scores were an indication that the district was performing at a high level. Councilor Sara Lennon said test scores weren’t the most appropriate measure of a school’s performance level and pointed out that despite the town’s high median income, the spending cost per pupil was very low.

“I’m proud of that,” Lynch said.

Lennon, however, thought that the numbers indicated that they could afford to improve upon the schools. “In the end, cheap is expensive,” she said.

After the debate among councilors, Lynch determined that a majority of four councilors – herself, Swift-Kayata, Jim Rowe and David Backer – would like to use 2.5 percent increase as a target and that would be their recommendation to the school board.

Councilors voted to adjourn to executive session for their evaluation of the town manager.

The school board’s finance committee next meets Wednesday, Feb. 28. Since School Superintendent Alan Hawkins is recovering from surgery, school board members are unsure when they will be voting on a budget for the upcoming fiscal year.