Amid questions surrounding increases in the Raymond school budget, the Raymond School District Budget Committee decided Monday to hold off voting on the budget until a May 5 meeting.

Members of the Budget Committee’s are concerned about state standards for Essential Programs and Services, which calculate how much money should be spent on teachers and programs based on the size of the student population. Committee chairman Rolf Olsen said Raymond’s budget is about $1.6 million over Essential Programs and Services limits.

“We’re looking for some answers on where that overage is coming from,” said Olsen.

In addition to questions about exceeding state limits, the Budget Committee did not have a chance to look at the most recent draft of the school budget until the morning of the meeting, and members want to avoid making decisions without a solid understanding of the budget.

At the May 5 meeting, Olsen and other members of the Budget Committee will get answers from the Maine Commissioner of Education, Susan Gendron.

Gendron is a Raymond resident, and the wife of Board of Selectmen Chairman Mark Gendron. Teresa Sadak, chairwoman of the Raymond School Committee, said Susan Gendron has been “fantastic” in answering questions for the town of Raymond throughout the consolidation process.

“I’ve enjoyed having her close,” said Sadak.

As for the excess over the limit to Essential Programs and Services, Sadak said the system is not the best and the Raymond School Department is part of the 85 percent of Maine school departments that exceed the limits of Essential Programs and Services. She is hoping Susan Gendron will be able to clarify the situation for both the School Committee and the Budget Committee on May 5.

Until then, Sadak said the School Committee will readdress the budget, looking at ways to make more cuts without directly affecting students. She said areas like art and music are those she is “not willing to touch,” but looking again at administrative and transportation costs may help whittle the budget down from the 1.6 percent increase from last year’s budget.

The Budget Committee was not surprised to learn that teaching positions and money for supplies were added to the school budget last week, but Olsen said the School Committee needs to work on finding other ways to save money.

“That came as a result of the public hearings that we had. We kind of expected they would add those back in. What we were expecting was that they would look at ways to cut costs in other areas in order to offset the impact,” said Olsen.

Because of a reduction in state subsidies for education, the 1.6 percent increase translates to an increase in the town’s share of more than 13 percent, which Olsen said is too high. In fact, because of a decrease in the size of student population, Olsen said there should be a decrease in the budget this year of about 2 percent.

One way the Raymond School Committee could make cuts – which Olsen wanted to see reflected in the budget – is capping tuition at $7,300 for all students attending high school outside the school district. The rate is what the school district pays per student at Windham High School.

Currently, there is no cap on tuition, so the town pays rates higher than $7,300 for students attending private schools, like Hebron Academy, and other public schools that may charge more.

A few weeks ago, the committee voted to cap tuition, but did not take the extra money out of the budget because the decision needs voter approval at the annual town meeting. Sadak said it is best to leave the extra money in the budget, rather than having to find it if voters decide not to cap tuition to schools other than Windham High School.

If tuition is capped, parents would have to make up any difference.

The School Committee will hold a workshop April 30, where decisions about more cuts will be made.

“I’m hoping in the next few weeks we will be able to come back with a budget that is more pleasing,” said Sadak, who added that Monday’s meeting was more informative to the Budget Committee than anything else to date.