SCHOOLS TAKING THE BIGGEST HITS
THE STATE IS CUTTING $27 million from the $983.5 million it sends to local school districts this fiscal year amid a sour economy that has lowered tax revenue projections. Some of southern Maine's biggest losers:
Portland, about $1.8 million of its $14.9 million state subsidy, around 12 percent.
South Portland, about $874,000 of its $4.2 million subsidy, around 20 percent.
Scarborough, about $781,000 of its $7.1 million subsidy, around 11 percent.
Biddeford, about $592,000 of its $11.2 million subsidy, around 5 percent.
SAD 61 in Bridgton, about $582,000 of its $3.1 million subsidy, around 19 percent.
SAD 57 in Waterboro, about $579,000 of its $15.4 million subsidy, nearly 4 percent.
SAD 6 in Buxton, about $562,000 of its $19.2 million subsidy, nearly 3 percent.
Source: Maine Department of Education
Local school districts are dipping into their reserve funds and weighing staff cuts in order to offset a $27 million reduction in state subsidies.
And they're being urged to make cuts soon. A longer wait could mean deeper reductions because districts will have fewer pay periods in which to spread out the funding losses.
"The longer we go, the less flexibility we have," Peter Eglinton, incoming chairman of the Portland School Committee, said Monday.
Maine's largest city will see its state subsidy drop by about 12 percent, or $1.8 million. It's one of hundreds of school districts affected by Gov. John Baldacci's executive order last week ordering $80 million in cuts from the budget that covers state spending through June 30, 2009.
The order was the first step in closing a projected $140 million revenue shortfall this fiscal year because of the struggling economy. The Baldacci administration expects to present state lawmakers with a request for additional cuts in mid-December.
The Legislature will likely begin hearings on the governor's supplemental budget request in early January, said Sen. Phil Bartlett, D-Gorham.
After losing $27 million in local school aid, the state Department of Education encouraged districts to act on the Baldacci order "immediately," said spokesman David Connerty-Marin. The longer districts wait to reduce spending, the less time they'll have to reach their shrinking bottom lines, he said.
The Portland, South Portland and Scarborough districts suffered the biggest subsidy reductions. They lost nearly $3.5 million combined – almost 13 percent of the overall state cut in subsidies.
That's because the reductions were determined using the same formula that sets state school aid: The higher the property values, the larger the share of school budgets that residents contribute, Connerty-Marin said.
The Scarborough district will lose $781,000 from an overall budget of $35 million. Officials plan to cover the loss with a combination of cash reserves and belt-tightening measures, said Superintendent David Doyle.
He said his department took action last month in anticipation of reduced state aid. It cut back on supplies and suspended funding for both student field trips and staff development travel.
He said a portion of the cut will be covered by money from, or planned for, reserve accounts.
Doyle does not anticipate any staff reductions at this time, but he said a supplemental budget with further cuts might force such a move.
"We'd be hard-pressed not to start eliminating positions," he said.
Portland school officials do not have the option of covering the district's $1.8 million reduction with reserves. Consecutive budget deficits drained those accounts – the system has borrowed from city reserves to make ends meet – and officials will weigh program cuts to fill the hole in its $89.5 million budget.
Administrators are preparing a list of options to be debated by School Committee members in the coming weeks. Eglinton said he expects the committee to be ready to vote on cost-cutting proposals by late January.
He said the committee will have a broad discussion about its options at its Dec. 3 meeting, before finance subcommittee members delve into specifics a week later.
Eglinton would not say whether he has any specific program cuts in mind.
He said the threat of further cuts in the coming supplemental budget proposal – with even more possible in the two-year state budget ahead – means the district has to think big, not small.
"We can't be in a position of just nickel and diming our way out," he said.
To find your local subsidy amount, click to: http://tinyurl.com/55jatn
Staff Writer Elbert Aull can be contacted at 791-6325 or at:
eaull@pressherald.com
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