School Administrative District 61 directors approved a plan Monday that would close Crooked River Elementary School in Casco to students and move all Naples and Casco children to Songo Locks School in Naples.

Casco and Naples residents still have to vote to close the school. If they do not approve the change, the two towns would have to pay more to cover the estimated savings.

The board also discussed the proposed flat-funded budget at Monday’s meeting. After the board votes on the budget April 6, residents will have an opportunity to change the budget at a district budget meeting on May 12 at 6:30 p.m. at the high school. The budget validation referendum is scheduled for the following Tuesday, May 19.

Some board members questioned the estimated savings figure for closing Crooked River that staff developed with the state Department of Education. Even Superintendent Patrick Phillips said he thought the $473,000 in savings that could be on the ballot is around $150,000 more than the district would actually save by repurposing the school.

“That seems like a high number, and is a bit higher than our estimates to you,” Phillips said.

Naples board member Janice Barter pointed out that if Naples and Casco residents voted not to close the school, they would have to pay more to keep the school open than the district would have actually saved.

Despite this, Phillips said, the state has specific statutes that govern what costs must be accounted for in determining estimated savings. The state requires the district to pretend the school will be completely closed, instead of being turned into office space for special education and adult education programs, as it would be under the districts plan.

Since the district would still use the building for these purposes, it would need to maintain custodial staff. Also, the savings figures do not account for the fact that teachers will be kept on and moved to Songo Locks.

Phillips added that the towns have 10 days to comment to the Department of Education on the projected savings. The comment period will run from March 31-April 9.

“This is not a done deal,” Phillips said. “I would not be surprised to see that number change before we print our ballots.”

The 10-year facilities plan adopted by the board would also return Bridgton Memorial School to the town, move adult education to Crooked River and make needed renovations to the high school and vocational center. Decisions about the future of Sebago Elementary School would be put off to a future date.

Phillips presented a possible design for the new bus garage and vocational building and for renovations of the high school and vocational center, a plan much cheaper than the original $8.5 million design. PDT Architects, who designed the original “garage-mahal,” as Phillips described it, drew up plans for a $2.8-3.2 million transportation and vocational facility.

The intention, Phillips said, is for savings from reducing the district’s facilities to pay for a good portion of these improvements, though residents would still have to approve bonds for each phase of the work.

After Richard Merritt questioned the logic of getting the bond first and then going to bid – “They know how much money you’ve got in your pocket,” he said – Phillips said he would not push to go to bond in the spring, but in the fall instead.

The school board also held a public hearing on the budget at Monday’s meeting, though most of the discussion and questions came from board members.

Sherrie Weese, financial coordinator for the district, presented the proposed $2.5 million budget, which is a zero percent increase from this year’s budget.

Weese said she received final subsidy information from the state, and the district will lose another $1 million, after losing almost $2.5 million in state subsidy this year and $800,000 the year before. Due to high town valuations and stable to declining enrollment, Weese said Sebago and Bridgton are nearing the point where they won’t receive any state subsidy for education.

The district will receive $580,000 in subsidy from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Weese said, though Phillips has said that this money, given that it is temporary, would be better used for one-time expenditures.

Since negotiations with teachers’ and administrators’ unions were still in progress, Weese said the numbers in the budget for salaries and benefits were not finalized.

Two high priority improvements were added to the proposed budget, Weese said – a laptop program for the high school and resources to research a kindergarten-fifth-grade literacy program.