RSU 23 Board proposes $15 million budget

OLD ORCHARD BEACH — The Regional School Unit 23 Board, covering Old Orchard Beach schools, has proposed a nearly $15 million school budget for the 2021 fiscal year.

The RSU 23 board last week approved a proposed budget of $14,973,000, said Superintendent of Schools John Suttie. The suggested budget still needs final approval from residents.

The suggested budget is about $195,000 increase from the current year’s budget. Should the suggested $15 million budget pass, it would mean a $25 annual tax increase on a $200,000 home, not including any possible tax increase from the municipal budget, according to information provided by Suttie.

The proposed budget marks a $369,000 dollar decrease in personnel and operations and a $46,000 decrease in operating expenditures, according to information provided by Suttie. The suggested budget includes about a $304,000 increase in salaries and benefits.

The proposed budget includes a reduction of two educational technicians and a response to intervention instructional coach. It also includes the reduction of a social worker, as a vacancy left by a resignation will not be filled.

Suttie said the district hopes to move forward in the future with a Pre-K through 12 system in one or two buildings instead of three. He said the district will take a long, hard look at any position that comes open to see if it is sustainable in the long term, instead of making numerous lay offs when there are building consolidations in the future.

“We’re trying to plan mindfully for the future,” he said. “We’re in really good shape financially. We don’t have any debt service.”

The school district is slated in the upcoming fiscal year to receive $1,770,950 of state funding, up $2,776 from the current year.

Typically, after the school board approves a budget proposal, it goes before residents at a public meeting for a second vote and then the budget approved at the public meeting would go before voters at a town-wide vote.

With state-wide June referendums moved to July and school buildings closed through the end of the school year, there is some uncertainty whether the budget this year will be approved in the typical three-step process.

“The Department of Education has been in touch with Superintendents and School Boards to discuss this issue, and we are continuing to engage with them to evaluate the best way to address next year’s school budgets during these challenging and unprecedented times,” said Maine Department of Education Spokeswoman Kelli Deveaux in a written statement.