BIDDEFORD — The City Council voted 6-3 at a meeting last week to approve a $33.98 million school budget.

The budget was approved after Council Chair John McCurry proposed a $244,135 increase to bring the city’s share to 100 percent of the state-recommended amount of $19.65 million ”“ a 3.25 percent, or $619,323 increase from last year. 

McCurry made the motion to amend the budget “with the understanding” that $184,135 of the additional funds will go toward building repairs at the Biddeford Regional Center of Technology, while the remaining $60,000 will allow for the reinstatement of a guidance counselor at the school. The motion passed by an 8-1 vote, with Councilor Marc Lessard in opposition.  

McCurry acknowledged that wanting to spend more money is uncharacteristic of him, but he was convinced to make the motion after Superintendent of Schools Jeremy Ray explained that the less the city pays of the recommended local share this year, the more it could have to pay next year.

“The reason why I made this motion is because I didn’t want to see us have to take a bigger bite next year,” said McCurry.

Furthermore, in delegating the additional funds to a technical center, McCurry said the city will eventually receive more than 100 percent reimbursement from the state on its investment.

Biddeford resident and former city councilor Richard Rhames called the action an attempt at “gaming the system” and suggested the money would be better spent restoring previously cut teaching positions.

Later in the meeting, an attempt to increase the budget by an additional $165,274 to restore the teaching positions that had been cut, including an English teacher at the high school and two foreign language teachers at the middle school, was shot down by a 6-3 vote. After Councilor Michael Ready proposed the motion, only he and Councilors Bob Mills and Robert Quattrone voted in favor of it. 

“Other towns seem to have an easier time understanding the importance of funding the education of the next generation,” said Rhames, pointing to places like Cape Elizabeth and Freeport, whose locally raised funds exceed Essential Programs and Services, or EPS, recommendations. The current school budget would see Biddeford taxpayers spend about $600,000 less than what the state says they ought to under the EPS model.

In responding to Rhames’ comments, two councilors said it didn’t make sense for Biddeford to be compared to places like Cape Elizabeth and Freeport because it has more poverty than those towns do and cannot be expected to raise as much money for education.

But to that point, Rhames also said more poverty means there’s a greater need to spend money on education. “Biddeford ought to be spending more because the challenges are greater than the kids face in Cape Elizabeth and Yarmouth,” he said. “But we spend less and we call it efficiency.”

Councilor Lessard put budgeting in terms of striking a balance between the children’s needs and the taxpayers’. 

“I fully get that we have disadvantaged kids in our city that go hungry during the day,” he said. “The process is trying to balance as much service as you can for the folks that need it and trying to make sure that we don’t put too much of a burden on folks that can’t afford what they’re already paying in their taxes.” 

The school budget will now be subject to a second reading by the City Council, before residents will have a chance to vote on it June 11.

— Staff Writer Angelo J. Verzoni can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or [email protected].