Regional School Unit 5 is proceeding with a 2015-2016 budget that supporters hope will make it more competitive in retaining students.

In an unusual move, the school board, acting on advice from co-superintendents Bill Michaud and Mike Lafortune, has allowed the budget proposal to be unveiled as requested by RSU 5 administrators, instead of first making preliminary modifications. The result is a 9.15 percent overall requested spending increase.

Board Chairman Nelson Larkins of Freeport said in an email that the change in the budget process means “potential cost savings/efficiencies and prioritization of requests comes later in the process with more direction from the board and public.”

Early on in the process, at least, the new methodology and the budget hike have the support of the public. Residents, mostly from Freeport, who showed up for the March 25 school board budget unveiling said that the money is needed in order for RSU to retain students.

“There are 230 students attending schools outside the district,” said Jerry Antl, who backed the ultimately unsuccessful effort to withdraw from RSU 5. “So there’s a problem, and this budget might help solve it. This budget has been built by administrators. Please pass this budget on to voters, and let them decide.”

Total student enrollment in the six RSU 5 schools is 1,826. The projection for 2015-2016 is 1,870 students.

Joe Migliaccio of Freeport concurred that it’s time to “stem the tide,” and attract more students to RSU 5 schools. A $14.6 renovation of Freeport High School, set to begin in the fall, also might help in that regard. But Migliaccio didn’t offer blanket support for a 9 percent budget hike.

“What I want to hear is how this budget relates to improvements in schools,” he said.

The next step in the budget approval process happens Wednesday, April 8, when the school board meets at Pownal Elementary School at 6:30 p.m.

As did this year’s $27.4 million budget, the new $29.9 million proposal would have the greatest tax impact in Durham and Pownal. The new proposal would translate to a tax increase of $169 (10.18 percent) per $100,000 in assessed property value in Durham. The increase would be $344 (9.97 percent) in Pownal and $120 (7.57 percent) in Freeport.

Kate Brown of Pownal, school board vice chairwoman, said in an email that “in years past, we have had the administrators budget their needs and provide a list of items that would help move the district toward our mission of providing a world-class education for students. The board would then contemplate which items from that list to include in the budget. The budget that was presented includes all of these things up front, which provides a unique challenge for the board.”

Brown, who emphasized that she was not speaking for the entire board, also said that the “constant struggle for any school district is finding a way to meet the basic needs of all students while continuing to fund the district priorities, especially when there are many competing aspects of the budget that are beyond our control such as state funding, energy costs, and health care. So, my support and the extent to which I choose to ‘sell’ the budget, if at all, will really depend on how well I feel it balances these variables with the financial resources of the RSU 5 community.”

RSU 5 residents will vote on the 14 budget articles when they meet at Freeport High School on May 27. Significant increases are called for in Article 1, student and staff support (11.7 percent); Article 3, facilities and maintenance (18.4 percent); and Article 6, regular instruction (8.4 percent).

John Egan, Eric Horne and Kristen Dorsey of Freeport; and Kevin Nadeau of Durham also expressed support for the budget at the school board meeting on March 25.

Egan acknowledged that he had seen the request for the first time shortly before the board opened public discussion. Adding that the budget increase was a “tall request,” he said it would be in the best interest of a “unified community” to consider the administrators’ requests.

“This budget is a chance for us to invest on the people side,” Egan said. “We’ve already made the commitment on the building side.”

Nadeau said he has an issue “with the process,” because it puts the school board in a position of “cutting something.” But he expects and supports a budget increase, Nadeau said.

Larkins emphasized that the new budget procedure remains dependent on the public, the school board and the administration.

“Tough decisions need to be made regarding any changes in our budget, so the board is really hoping the public provides comments and questions at the board’s next three meetings,” he said.

Kelly Wentworth, director of finance and human resources for Regional School Unit 5, gives school board Chairman Nelson Larkins of Freeport a primer on the budget during a March 25 board meeting at Freeport High School. Staff photo by Larry GrardJohn Egan of Freeport speaks on March 25 as the Regional School Unit 5 budget proposal is unveiled at Freeport High School. At left is Kelly Wentworth, director of finance and human resources for RSU 5. Staff photo by Larry Grard

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