2/23/10 Portland school reorg to focus on student performance

Superintendent Jim Morse prepares to deliver a 2010-11 school budget on March 3 that's expected to reflect a $6 million reduction in state and federal funding.

2/23/10 Fairfield - SAD 49 faces hard choices

If residents of the four towns of School Administrative District 49 want to keep taxes down in the coming fiscal year, they might have to live with fewer employees -- including teachers -- at area schools.

2/23/10 Burnham - Closing of school on table

"I'd hate to see us lose this school with the possibility that it could be used as a school again." Retired teacher Nancy Edge made that comment Monday night during the first of two public meetings on $337,000 in proposed cuts to the 2010-11 budget of School Administrative District 53.

2/15/10 - Bucksport - RSU 25 Pondering $2M in Budget Cuts

Reducing staff, relocating students and shuttering the central office are options being considered as Regional School Unit 25 (RSU 25) officials grapple with an estimated $2 million in cuts over the next two years.

 

“We’re not just looking at a one-year solution,” said Superintendent Jim Boothby. “We need to position ourselves for two years and beyond.”

 

State subsidy for the district, which includes Bucksport, Orland, Verona Island and Prospect, will drop by $1.2 million in the 2010-11 school year. Of that, about $250,000 is related to the district completing its debt service on the Miles Lane School. That sum is basically a wash, leaving the RSU to absorb about $920,000 in cuts.