A sparse audience of about 60 voters overwhelmingly endorsed the local school district’s proposed 5.5% budget increase for the coming school year at a May 15 public forum in Topsham.
The Maine School Administrative District 75 Board of Directors previously approved the proposed increase, which includes no major changes to staffing or services. The district includes Harpswell, Topsham, Bowdoin and Bowdoinham.
There was little discussion or debate at the May 15 forum, which took place at Mt. Ararat Middle School’s Orion Performing Arts Center. Most of the budget’s 22 articles were approved unanimously or with just one or two dissenting votes.
Moderator John Cunningham said a smaller turnout usually means smooth sailing for the annual budget forum, a necessary precursor to the budget validation referendum scheduled for June 10.
“It’s a relatively small group tonight, so we shouldn’t have too much trouble,” Cunningham told the audience in his introduction.
As proposed, next year’s budget would total about $57.9 million, compared with $54.8 million in the current school year. A big part of the increase is attributable to a projected 13% jump in employee health insurance costs, school officials said.
The number of teachers wouldn’t change, aside from the addition of two new prekindergarten classes fully funded by the state as part of a larger push to promote early childhood education.
The portion of the MSAD 75 budget funded by local towns would increase by 9% to about $34.4 million. Harpswell’s share of that would be roughly $11.3 million, an 8.7% increase from the current year. Its passage also would trigger increases in town contributions of 8.1% from Topsham, 11.2% from Bowdoin and 10.4% from Bowdoinham.
Harpswell Town Administrator Kristi Eiane has said the town’s property tax rate is estimated to increase to $6.64 per $1,000 of valuation, a difference of 28 cents, or 4.4%.
The Harpswell Select Board set the tax rate in August last year. While the MSAD 75 assessment is the biggest factor at about 65%, the rate also is affected by the municipal budget, the county tax, growth of the tax base from development and other considerations.
School board leaders have said the spending plan could face unexpected changes in the months ahead, citing threatened cuts to federal education funding.
The U.S. Department of Education has announced plans to withhold federal K-12 education funding from Maine, citing the state’s refusal to comply with Title IX as interpreted under a recent executive order from President Donald Trump.
The order mandates that schools receiving federal funds must prohibit transgender athletes from participating in girls sports. The Trump administration contends that Maine’s policies allowing such participation violate federal law. About 10% of the state’s K-12 funding comes from the federal government.
School board Vice Chair Ryan Larsen, of Harpswell, who also leads the board’s Finance Committee, has said the district had little choice but to plan for next year’s budget without knowing the outcome of the current dispute between Maine and the Trump administration.
A group of Harpswell Community School parents wrote letters to the district in March asking it to add another first grade class next year to prevent an oversized class that would exceed the district’s guidelines.
District Superintendent of Schools Heidi O’Leary responded in a letter, saying that while the class is likely to exceed the district’s optimal size, additional staffing would be provided to ensure students receive adequate support.
