HALLOWELL — More than 60 voters in Regional School Unit 2 approved the $26.52 million school budget with relative ease during a meeting Wednesday at Hall-Dale High School in Farmingdale.
The 17-article warrant included the school board’s recommendation of about $10.7 million for regular instruction and about $4.6 million for special education.
The budget for the district, which includes Hallowell, Farmingdale, Dresden, Monmouth and Richmond, will go to a validation referendum June 14 in those municipalities.
The only article that generated any real discussion was the one about regular instruction. The board recommended an amount nearly $70,000 less than last year because of a proposed reshuffling of classes and teachers at Marcia Buker Elementary School in Richmond.
Several parents expressed concern about the plan because of what they believe to be a change in the student-teacher ratio. The voters amended the article by putting back the $70,000 the board recommended to remove, but the board is not bound to spend that money in Richmond or at all.
“They are starting something new and cool and it’s going to be great,” said Landon Hixon, of Richmond, whose daughter will be in fifth grade at Buker next year. “But the changing the size of the classroom really concerns us.”
Despite being unable to decide how the additional money gets spent, Hixon said he hopes the board members in attendance heard the pleas from Richmond parents.
“Our board members were here and we will readdress the issue tomorrow night (at Thursday’s board meeting) because overloading one teacher with too many students is dangerous,” Hixon said.
Superintendent Bill Zima, who took over last year after Virgel Hammonds left the district, said the budget increases are leveling off. But school board Chairman Bill Matthews said in an interview last week that the state continues to cut its subsidy, causing the district to cut back costs for maintenance and athletic programs.
Matthews said the district has also reduced instructional and administrative positions and is working to make each facility more energy-efficient. But since the district was founded in 2009, the budget has passed every year, which Matthews said is a testament to the community’s commitment to education.
At the beginning of the meeting, Zima said the district is saving money by not filling two open teacher positions — vacancies caused by retirement — and two educational technician positions. The state has cut RSU 2’s funding by $180,519 for the coming year because of enrollment.
“We want to have the best schools, but we can’t do it solely on the back of the taxpayer,” Zima said.
Zima said he thought the meeting went well but admitted that he had several sleepless nights over the past few weeks because of the difficulty of creating a school budget amid funding cuts and the possibility of having to raise taxes.
“We are trying to increase the education and instruction level while decreasing the cost,” Zima said. He was disappointed that every chair in the Hall-Dale High gymnasium wasn’t filled, but he was happy with the passion displayed by parents.
“Their passion is good,” Zima said. “I was pleased with the outcomes of the votes and with the comments that people made.”
Zima said RSU 2 is a great place and there are a lot of great people working hard for the district’s students.
“There’s a lot of camaraderie and support,” he said. “Every teacher is there for all the kids.”
Jason Pafundi — 621-5663
Twitter: @jasonpafundiKJ
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