02/12/2015

Superintendent to present 2015-16 school budget recommendation at televised workshop Feb. 25

School Superintendent Meredith Nadeau is scheduled to present her proposed school budget for 2015-16 at a 6:30 p.m. workshop Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015, at Town Hall.

The presentation was originally scheduled for the School Board's meeting Feb. 10, but was postponed to the February workshop. The workshop date was changed and moved to Town Hall to allow live broadcast over CETV Channel 3.

While budget details were not yet available at the Feb. 10 meeting, Nadeau assured the board that her proposal would continue to focus on the goals of schools' strategic plan.

"The picture for state revenue this remains, as it does every year, very ambiguous," Nadeau said during her monthly report to the board.

The governor's budget proposes more money for preK-12 education, she said, but at the same time education costs are rising, resulting a greater expected local share. Cape Elizabeth enrollment is also declining, she said. "Given our decline in enrollment we can anticipate that our overall general purpose aid is likely to decrease," Nadeau said.

The good news is that proposed legislation could shift the cost of sending students to charter schools from local school districts to the state. "Whether that legislation will pass remains to be seen, but I'm sure our local representatives are hearing us (as we speak)", Nadeau said.

She said preliminary state subsidy numbers should be available in late February or early March.

Nadeau discussed other factors that will impact the upcoming budget:

• Salaries: The teacher's contract will pose a 2.5 percent increase. Negotiations on contracts for four other bargaining units have yet to be completed.
• Health insurance premiums: Unknown
• Retirement: Local contribution to the state retirement system will increase from 2.65 percent of teacher compensation to 3.36 percent.
• Energy: Price for oil is locked in at $1.15 less than this year, but electricity costs are expected to increase 5 percent.
• Capital improvement: Initial payments will be due for the $1.75 million capital improvement bond for roofing and heating/cooling system projects approved by the Town Council in December. [news article]