Staff Writer

Voters in the three communities of Regional School Unit 23 next week will have two opportunities to weigh in on the proposed $43.7 million school budget.

The regional budget meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday at Saco Middle School will allow voters from Dayton, Saco and Old Orchard Beach to approve the budget as proposed or make changes. The budget approved at the meeting will go to voters in a June 7 referendum.

The proposed budget was passed in a 5-2 vote with board members Skip Cushman of Dayton and Jim Boisvert of Old Orchard Beach opposed.

The total school budget of $43.75 million is 3 percent, or $1.2 million more than the current budget, said RSU 23 Business Manager Sharon LaFlamme. The tax contribution from Saco will decrease $115,916 from the current year. Old Orchard Beach will see a decrease from the current year of $906,547 in local tax contribution. Dayton will need to raise an additional $104,756 from the current year, she said.

The school board last week approved several cuts suggested by Superintendent Michael Lafortune but rejected others. It approved cutting a fourth-grade teacher at Loranger Middle School in Old Orchard Beach and eliminating a secretary position at Jameson School in Old Orchard Beach.

The board rejected Lafortune’s recommendation to cut a fifth-grade teaching position in Old Orchard Beach and to make the principal at Dayton Consolidated School a teaching-principal position.

Lafortune said cutting the fourth-grade teaching position will bring class sizes to around 16 to 18 students, lower than the 20- to 22-student average elsewhere in the district. He said most schools only have one secretary in the front office. That cut likely will result in a layoff, he said.

The budget includes the addition of summer school throughout the district.

Lafortune said the biggest challenge this year was keeping the budget down. He said the district saw “massive increases” of more than 6 percent for health insurance costs.

The district also faced a $1.3 million decrease in revenue with the loss of federal stimulus funds and decreased state subsidies.

Lafortune said he tried to make reductions this year in anticipation of a more difficult budget process next year.

“I’m more worried about next year. I don’t know how they’re going to balance this without reductions,” he said. “The question is how long can we do this with revenue diminishing so rapidly.”

Gary Curtis, a board member from Old Orchard Beach, said he feels good about the budget approved by the board.

“I think the increase is explainable and is mostly contractual,” Curtis said. “I think we’ve put together a responsible budget.”

Curtis said he was opposed to cutting any classroom teaching positions because “that should be a last-ditch effort.”

“That’s the last place you cut,” he said.

Dan Cabral, a school board member from Saco, said the overall budget increase can be attributed to the contract with Thornton Academy and a 6 percent increase in district-wide insurance costs.

“I think the public will be voting on a budget that is quite responsible. I feel that the cuts we made will have the least impact on the students,” he said.

Curtis said he encourages all voters to participate in the regional budget meeting.

“The public now has much more say as to what happens in each classroom of the RSU,” he said.

Lafortune said the district has started the process of reviewing the cost-sharing formula put in place when the RSU was created. The district plan calls for a review in the second year – which is this year – and for changes to be implemented in the third year. Lafortune said the review is needed to make sure the formula is not detrimental to Dayton.

Additional information about the budget is available at www.rsu23.org.

Staff  Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.