There were many financial challenges presented by this year’s budget. The first challenge was a $468,000 loss in subsidy. According to the Department of Education, this is because “the costs for education have increased at a higher rate than the available State subsidy.” This means that more of the costs for education are passed on to local towns.

Impacts on next year’s budget include: a $423,000 increase to make two interest payments on the bond for the building project, a $185,000 increase to cover our contractual obligations to Fryeburg Academy for secondary education costs, a $315,500 increase in special-education costs, $52,000 to purchase a new bus to maintain the integrity of our fleet, $38,000 for a new (used) plow truck, and the fact that we have $150,000 less Balance Forward to apply to this year’s budget. Through close scrutiny of all part of the budget and careful planning, we have reduced this potential $1,163,000 increase to an overall increase of $773,500 dollars.

We strongly believe that a 4.71% budget-to-budget increase, with 2.58% of that being debt service for the building project, is reasonable as it helps us maintain key positions, helps us continue to meet the needs of students, and helps us minimize the increased demand on local taxpayers. This 4.71% increase in the budget results in a 5.17% ($588,920) increase in costs to our towns, which is unavoidable given the decrease in available State funding for education.  

If you would like to attend an information session next week, those will be at the following locations and at the following times:

Informational Meetings:

Tuesday, May 17                   New Suncook Informational Meeting (6:30 PM)

Wednesday, May 18             Brownfield-Denmark Informational Meeting (6:30 PM)

Thursday, May 19                 MOMS Informational Meeting (6:30 PM)

Also, attached to this post you can find copies of each warrant article of the proposed budget, a copy of the budget-to-budget increases/decreases, and the town assessments. I hope to see you at an informational meeting and that you come to the May 25^th Budget Meeting at Molly Ockett Middle School to support this budget.

                                                                                                                                 Jay Robinson

                                                                                                                                MSAD 72 Superintendent

At our last Building Committee meeting last Thursday, the architect shared a few renderings of the new building to give us a sense of what to expect once construction is complete. I thought for those interested you might enjoy seeing what the site and lobby will look like. Please check the attachments for views of the full site view, an exterior entry view, and an internal lobby view. 

All of the work is happening in a timely fashion, and within the next week the frame for the new building will start to go up. As some of you may or may not know, students are scheduled to enter the new building in the fall of 2017, so there is much to be accomplished before then. It goes without saying that the site will continue to take on a new look as the project proceeds and the new building is constructed. I have attached PDF images of the site and two general PDFs of the building to provide a more in-depth look at the project. I will continue to keep you posted as the project continues.