The town of Naples will be the new sponsor of Project Graduation after MSAD 61 school district dropped the post-graduation event committee because of insurance liability.

Budget concerns as of late have caused the district to enforce old policies and eliminate some services. In lieu of this, the Naples Town Office may also become the new home for before-and-after school daycare, currently held at the Songo Locks Elementary School.

“I’m not happy with the school board because I really think they are putting the pressure on the taxpayers,” said Rick Paraschak, Chairman for the Naples Board of Selectmen, of the policy changes.

The town will now do bookkeeping and insure fund-raisers for Project Graduation, an organization of parents that raise money to pay for a special post-graduation celebration for high school seniors.

In the past, Project Graduation has been insured by the school district, and fund-raising money has gone through the school’s books, but MSAD 61 was advised this year by the school attorney not to insure Project Graduation for liability reasons.

“Certainly, the school supports Project Graduation, but doesn’t sponsor it,” said Janice Barter, a Naples representative on the school board of directors.

Barter said that, due to a tight budget for this year, the school district has had to make many changes to keep costs down. Late buses now only run Tuesday and Thursday, three elementary school teaching positions have been cut and the school buses may only pick up or drop off a student at one bus stop throughout the week.

The district has now begun enforcing a fee for after-hours use of the school facilities for groups, like basketball, that charge money for extracurricular activities. This is an old policy, Barter said, though rarely enforced in the past. Fifteen thousand in community use money was allotted in the school budget to pay for after-hours use, but voters denied the budget request, Barter said.

“We no longer have that money to use,” Barter said. “And that has left us in a position to enforce the facility fees.”

This has brought the before-and-after school daycare at the Songo Locks Elementary School to consider moving to the Naples Town Offices. Though the selectmen said they were happy to support both Project Graduation and the day care program, they expressed frustration toward the school district’s policy changes.

“I just think they’re nitpicking all of these programs and I don’t understand why,” Selectman Tim Place said.

A sentiment to which Barter replies in kind;

“We try to look at what is best for the educational needs of the kids and our thoughts don’t always coincide,” Barter said.