On Tuesday, Aug. 2, we will hold our third District Budget Meeting for the 2011-12 school year. At this meeting, residents of the Lake Region School District (Bridgton, Casco, Naples, and Sebago) will have the opportunity to state their opinions, and we will set and vote the budget amounts for the school year. We have held two previous budget meetings for this purpose only to have the amounts voted and approved at those meetings not pass at the polls the following week.

I encourage all residents to voice their opinion on the school budget at the budget meeting on Aug. 2 at 6:30 p.m. at the Lake Region High School gym. We need to have amounts voted and approved that night that will pass at the polls the next week, Aug. 9. The children of this school district need you to come out and be heard.

You should have received a mailing from the school district on yellow paper this week. If you did not receive it, please stop by at the District Central Office for a copy. The information in this flyer explains many details about the budget, including the cuts that have been made since January. This budget also includes the first payment on the bonds ($705,554) that the District residents approved in November 2009, for the Lake Region High School renovation project.

Why was this renovation project put out to voters two years ago? The major reason was that we received at least two accreditation reports from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) that stated we were in danger of losing accreditation for our high school because the bus garage was connected to the building and the fumes from the buses could be seeping into the school. There was a concern that the air quality for the students could be affected. Another concern was that the building space was not ideal for learning in the 21st Century. Lake Region High School is now close to 45 years old.

If there is anyone who did not think this building project was necessary, please slow down and look at our high school as you drive by on Route 302 over the next few days. Now that coverings are off, one can truly see the sad state of the bricks and mortar of the exterior walls of our school. The section where the bus garage and vocational programs were housed has now been removed, making room for a new two-story wing for classroom space in its place. This project started out much larger (over $21 million), was pared down in size more than once to a final cost of $13.8 million, and is a very reasonably priced renovation project at this point. Because this project was “shovel ready,” the district was able to qualify for $9.2 million in zero interest bonds. This saved the district taxpayers a substantial amount of money (approximately $4 million over the life of the bond). Of course, once we started the project and began paying contractors, our repayment schedule for the bonding has begun.

The school budget coming forward from the School Board at the Aug. 2 meeting is $114,540 less than the 2010-11 school budget for the year we just completed in June, not counting the payment due on the high school bonding. This amount also reflects a 6 percent increase in health insurance costs for employees, higher fuel and energy costs, the cost of the two failed budget referendums, etc. The payment for the high school project $705,554 would have been in addition to the school budget, but at this point, the School Board has cut the budget to the point that we are now cutting into the bond payments. The cuts made include those we could make as a result of decreased enrollment and doing things more efficiently. They also include cuts that will affect educational programming for our students. The District budget meeting and vote on Aug. 2 and the voting on Aug. 9 will cost the District an additional $4,000. I believe we are at a crossroad with the school budget at this point. The School Board has worked very hard to keep the cuts as far away from the students as possible. That will not be possible with further cutting.

The last referendum held on June 30, 2011, failed by 16 votes. Some have said this reflects a very divided community. Others have said that because of low voter turnout, the vote does not necessarily reflect how people feel. I have also heard that some people thought that if they voted no, the district would receive more funding from the state. It doesn’t work that way. If the budget does not pass at the polls, we are required to bring it back to the voters until a budget does pass. Please attend the budget meeting on Aug. 2 at 6:30 p.m. at Lake Region High School and please vote on Aug. 9 in your town so your opinion will truly be heard.

Dr. Kathleen Beecher is the SAD 61 interim superintendent.