CAPE ELIZABETH – Despite a proposed school budget that increases school spending in Cape Elizabeth by $448,000, or 2.2 percent, over the current budget, interim Superintendent Ken Murphy feels he has presented a budget that meets the needs of the school district while keeping in mind taxpayers’ ability to pay.

“The recommended budget, I believe, reflects the economic climate in Cape Elizabeth, the economic climate in the state and the economic climate in the nation even,” he said during his presentation of his proposed $21.1 million budget to the Cape Elizabeth School Board last week. “It is a very modest increase I am recommending. That modest increase helps us maintain the programs that makes this a top-notch school system.”

With the increased spending, however, Cape Elizabeth is one of the few school districts in the area that is not making substantial cuts to the school budget. Doing so, Murphy has said, would “reduce what makes this a top-quality school system.”

The budget in Cape Elizabeth is not taking on any additional programming or staffing, but maintaining what it currently offers.

Much of the increase in the budget comes in salary and benefit costs for the district’s 270 employees. That cost, $16.8 million, makes up 80 percent of the school budget. That number, Murphy said, could have been $200,000 to $300,000 more if not for a conservative salary agreement between the district and the teachers association.

“We have a budget that balances taxpayer and student interests because of our teachers continued willingness to do what is in the best interest of the school system,” Murphy wrote in his budget narrative.

The increased school budget means an additional $85 to the tax bill for a home valued at $253,000, the median home value according to the town assessor’s office.

Like in other school districts in the area and across the state, administrators in Cape Elizabeth had to work the budget around the loss of federal stimulus funding that the district has used over the past two years to offset the cost of salaries, benefits and educational supplies.

“The federal stimulus money was nice, but it is gone and it is not coming back,” Murphy said of the $925,000 the school district got last year from American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds.

Educational spending is down slightly at both Pond Cove Elementary School and Cape Elizabeth Middle School, which will both see approximately $3,000 less in funding than last year.

“I think we’ve gone as far as we could in cuts,” said Pond Cove Principal Tom Eismeier. “This year if we could keep what we had, we could continue moving forward.”

While spending at the middle school is down $3,023, Principal Steve Connolly said the books/periodical budget has been increased by $6,000 to help the school continue to update the textbooks used in the classrooms. Prior to the textbook update plan, which went into effect in recent years, Connolly said the newest book the classes were working with was 12 years old, with some dating back more than 25 years.

Tthe district’s technology department budget is down approximately $2,000.

The cut does not have Gary Lanoie, the district’s technology coordinator, worried.

“Even though we have had declining funding over the last few years,” he said, “we have found ways to provide equal, if not better, service through technology.

The budgets at the high school ($362,724), superintendent’s office ($82,685), staff/student support ($164,517), and health services ($10,290) and community service ($186,993) saw no spending increases.

Spending for transportation increased by $21,000 largely due to the cost of diesel fuel. Similarly the custodial/maintenance budget increased $108,000 due to rising fuel costs and the cost of a new boiler heating system at the high school.

The athletic budget increased by $18,000, Athletic Administrator Jeff Thoreck said, because of a $9,000 increase in the athletic training and $6,300 to update uniforms, which has been forgone the last two years.

“From a safety aspect, the trainer is a critical part of the program,” he said, adding the athletic trainers treat 1,500 injuries a year ranging from cuts and bruises to muscle tears and concussions.

Much of the athletic budget – 45 percent – is raised not by the town, but rather by athletic booster groups, which last year raised 35 percent of the total athletic budget and activity fees.

The district’s Instructional Support Department is expected to see a substantial increase in funding.

Dom DaPatsy, the department’s director, said his budget for special education is slatted to increase $96,000 due to the need for additional education technicians and out-of-district placement costs.

The School Board will hold a workshop on the budget on March 15 at 7 p.m. in the Community Services building. Following a Finance Committee meeting in the high school library on March 22, the School Board will vote on the budget.

The School Board’s recommended budget will be presented to the Town Council’s Finance Committee on April 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the council chambers in Town Hall. From there the budget will be rolled into the municipal budget, which will be the topic of a public hearing on April 25.