New Gloucester Selectmen comment on School budget
Concern expressed over consolidated school idea
By Penny Hilton

New Gloucester--The New Gloucester Board of Selectmen got a guided tour of the proposed SAD 15 budget for 2002-2003 via a Power Point presentation by Superintendent Michael Wood at their regular meeting Monday, April 1.

Wood explained that all the items in the budget had risen to the top as priorities according to an 1 to 4 rating system the School Board. The priorities are designed to help keep funding in line with long-term goals. Categories that are scored include: Legal issues, Safety issues, Essential Programmatic Services, Development of Curriculum and Assessment, Cost Efficiency, and alignment with the District Goals -- high achievement by students and teachers, resource management, communication, and personalized learning.

The proposed $16,376,567 budget is a 4.72% increase over last year's budget, with most of the increase coming from the fixed costs of contracted wages and benefits. All contracts with the school department are currently under negotiation: support staff has been working without a contract since July 2001. Contracts with teachers and administrators are up this June 30. This means that salary and benefit lines in the budget are estimates, and could change either way.

Selectman Steve Libby acknowledged that "this is something we [the selectmen] have no control over," but implored the school board to look hard at contract agreements. The selectmen commented most about an item not in the budget, the up-coming expense of replacing the problem-plagued Memorial and Russell elementary schools. State application procedures are encouraging consolidation of the two schools into one, but selectmen Steve Chandler and Bob Leighton said they were "upset" with the idea. They argued that school consolidation worked against the kind of village community that they were trying to shape in the town's long-range plan. Leighton also objected to what he said would be a 15-mile bus ride for many young students.

Memorial Elementary School in New Gloucester, on Intervale Road near the Upper Village.

Wood explained that the application deadline dictates that the school board vote on the matter on April 3, and that combining the needs of the two schools into "a consolidated application" will put the request ahead in the state's priority rating system. Wood and members of the school board are currently making presentations to "any group that will invite us" to show a video which documents the need for new building. Though the consolidated application will be taken as an indication that the district will be designing a consolidated school, Wood assured the group that "there will be many choices we can make."

In other business, the selectmen unanimously approved a Special Amusements license that will allow the catering services at Pineland Farms to serve alcoholic beverages at events like dances and wedding receptions. The meeting went into executive session to discuss "a personnel matter, and a possible law suit."