Dear Parents and Friends: On Thursday, Dec. 27, Maine school systems learned how the curtailment of state funds will impact their district subsidy for this school year. The curtailment comes about as a result of an executive order issued by Governor Paul LePage to reduce State spending by $35.5 million to balance the fiscal year 2013 budget. This temporary curtailment will be followed by legislative action this month in the form of a supplemental budget that is needed to reduce the current fiscal year budget to achieve a balanced budget by June 30, 2013.

How local schools fared with the Governor's Dec. 27 education budget cuts

The reduction of the state allocation for SAD 28 is $74,591.69, a reduction of 14.29 percent. The reduction of the state allocation for Five Town CSD is $28,910.99, a reduction of 2.5 percent.

Cathy Murphy, business manager, and I met on Monday, Dec. 31, to develop a strategy to manage this reduction in anticipated subsidy for the current fiscal year. We reviewed positive balances in the MSAD budget, achieved through additional funds we have received for tuition students, and reductions in payroll due to changes in personnel who were hired over the summer. Those positive balances were reduced somewhat in the SAD 28 budget by expenses for boiler and roof repair at CRMS. In the CSD budget, those savings were offset almost entirely by expenses for facility operations and maintenance that were unanticipated at the time of the budget development a year ago.

It is important to have some measure of protection in the budget for unforeseen contingencies in the remainder of the year. It is also important to have some unexpended funds remaining at the end of the year so those funds can be carried into the next year’s budget to reduce the amount needed to be raised locally.

For these reasons, I convened the administrative teams from both MSAD and the CSD this morning. The team identified areas of expenditure in the budget that can be delayed or omitted without severely impacting the quality and breadth of programs and experiences that we provide for students. We have come up with a list of reductions that are being communicated to staff. The list includes supplies, books, dues and fees to professional organizations, summer school, professional development, travel, course reimbursement, purchased services, printing and advertising. We are not currently anticipating making any changes in staffing unless predicted circumstances change.

While you may see some effects of these budget constraints, I am confident that staff members will be creative in minimizing the direct effect on students. I must note that the students in both MSAD # 28 and Five Town CSD are indeed fortunate to benefit from the funds provided by the Bisbee Funds, as I anticipate we will be able to continue with a number of activities and events that would be otherwise be impossible without these generous funds.

While we are managing the impact of the reduction of State subsidy on the current budgets, we are in the midst of preparation of the budgets for the 2013-2014 school year. There will be multiple opportunities for each of you to participate in this process in the coming months, and I encourage you become as informed and involved as possible. Please watch our district websites, and feel free to e-mail Board members, administrators, and/or me with input regarding the budgets. Our email addresses are on the website.

Elaine Nutter is superintendent of the Five Town CSD and School Administrative District 28