10/01/09
Schools freeze spending as officials brace for more cuts in state subsidy
Cape Elizabeth schools have placed a freeze on non-payroll spending in anticipation of a cut in state subsidy for the 2009-10 school year.
It is the second time in as many years that the School Department has halted spending to brace for a revenue shortfall.
The freeze affects spending on supplies, equipment and other non-payroll expenses. Salaries and benefits will continue to be paid, said Superintendent Alan Hawkins.
School officials do not know the extent of any anticipated drop in funding, but are expecting a cut on the order of the $421,000 curtailment Cape Elizabeth experienced last year.
Hawkins said state Education Commissioner Susan Gendron announced probable cuts in state aid for 2009-10 to superintendents gathered in Augusta in late August. Losses in state revenue will likely mean cuts equal to last year's, or more, Hawkins said.
Whether federal economic stimulus money will be available to buffer the losses in the current fiscal year is also unclear, Hawkins said, so he, like many other superintendents in southern Maine, is freezing spending for supplies, equipment and other expenses to minimize the impact of any revenue reduction. "Most of us have gone to the freeze process," he said. Adding pressure for Cape Elizabeth is a series of unexpected legal expenses surrounding special education this year, Hawkins said.
More firm information on just how much Cape Elizabeth will lose is expected when the Legislature reconvenes in January, Hawkins said, but the cut could come sooner if the governor himself takes action.
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