OLD ORCHARD BEACH — Residents will have a chance to weigh in on a proposed school budget of nearly $12.7 million on May 13.
The Regional School Unit 23 Board, covering the town of Old Orchard Beach, voted unanimously to approve the budget proposal Tuesday night.
The proposal will go to a town meeting-style forum on May 13, in which residents will vote on the budget. Residents will vote on 11 individual budget categories, or cost centers. They can choose to increase or decrease cost centers, but can’t approve or eliminate specific programs.
The May 13 meeting will give residents another chance to voice their opinion on the suggested budget, school board member Peter Flaherty said.
“I really, really encourage you to be there,” he said.
The budget proposal that is approved at the May 13 meeting will go out to a final vote on a June 9 ballot.
The current budget proposal would be a three percent increase from the current year’s budget. It would increase the mil rate 12 cents, which would mean an annual tax increase of $24 on a $200,000 home. This number does not include any change the municipal budget could make to the mil rate.
The current budget proposal comes in about $100,000 less than an early budget proposal. Superintendent Lloyd Crocker said school officials were able to make some adjustments after receiving the news that health and dental benefits would come in about $103,000 less than estimated.
One of the librarians is leaving to pursue another job, and Crocker said the school district will staff libraries with educational technicians and one district-wide library and media specialist.
Crocker said the new proposal increases the contingency fund from $75,000 to $125,000, which “allows me to breath easier,” he said, and adds money to the special education funding to cover the need for unexpected services outside the district. It would also allow funding for 1:1 iPads in the sixth grade, a program that will be implemented in the higher grades.
— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.
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