BIDDEFORD — On June 12, residents of Biddeford and Dayton will vote on two school referendum questions asking for citizen approval to join a collaborative purchasing unit with as many as 12 other school districts, to formalize a cooperative educational agreement between the two communities, and to OK a school budget that adds less than 1 cent to the taxation millage rate.

Biddeford Schools Superintendent Jeremy Ray said approval for the budget will allow the school district to add more students to its Pre-K program at John F. Kennedy Memorial School, hire an additional music instructor, hire a director of instruction and innovation, employ an English Language Learner teacher at John F. Kennedy Memorial School and to provide professional development and support for mathematics teachers in the district.

“We’ve had a good run in the last five years,” Ray said. “We’ve been able to put ourselves in a good position around state funding and have been a beneficiary of the fact that the Biddeford City Council has done a good job of downtown valuations.”

Ray said that approving the referendums setting up two voluntary regional cost sharing centers will allow the school district to take advantage of state and local funding opportunities.

“These regional centers will have no impact on the local decision making of our local school board,” Ray said. “Additionally, these state-subsidized service centers will bulk buy and shepherd joint services in which we are already a part. The first referendum question is a formalization with the Maine Department of Education of our shared administrative services with Dayton, a partnership that has spanned more than four and a half years. Voting yes keeps the status quo with Dayton.”

According to Ray, the second referendum question asks for voter approval to establish a joint purchasing cooperative with nine area school districts so that each can secure the best prices on custodial supplies and food purchases for school nutrition programs.

“Sometimes people hear the word regionalization are are scared, but this allows for entrepreneurial spirit,” Ray said. “It simply allows the district to form an independent entity that will use its size to leverage vendors and to lower costs on everything from toilet paper to insurance. It gives us more flexibility and more creativity.”

Ray says that if this measure is approved, the school district will be eligible for a minimum of $150,000 in state subsidy in the next budget and will not be at risk of a possible reduction in state funding.

As far as the school budget for Fiscal Year 2019 goes, Ray said that the budget will only rise .08 percent, meaning that over the past five years, the impact of educational spending by the school district has only increased the mill rate by about 3.5 cents.

“These responsible and conservative budgets  increases have been accomplished without a reduction of positions or programs,” he said. “Indeed, we have added new options for students, modernized our transportation fleet and have addressed the urgent needs of the high school track and Waterhouse Field.”

Ray said he’s proud that while other communities have asked for significant increases from taxpayers, Biddeford  has asked for less than 1 percent overall during the past five years and has put that money to good use for students and the community.

“We’re fortunate to be in solid financial shape thanks to our myriad efforts to raise revenue, save money and make sound investments in our facilities and energy efficiency,” he said. “Adjusted for inflation, the local contribution requested to support our schools is actually less today than it was five years ago. We’ve maintained and in many cases expanded our programs while keeping an eye on every penny.”

— Executive Editor Ed Pierce can be reached at 282-1535 ext. 326 or by email at editor@journaltribune.com