Mascenic is holding its deliberative session Wednesday on the proposed $19.4 million operating budget, which carries a 0.9%, or $181,917, increase over the current budget,.
“This is the fourth year in a row that the School Board has presented a budget to the voters that has an increase of less than 1%,” School Board Chair Rachel Anderson said, adding that the process is highly collaborative between the board and the Budget Advisory Committee. “Our philosophy when drafting the budget was explicitly ‘needs-based.’ Extra scrutiny went into the process this year, especially in terms of analyzing and adjusting staffing levels due to our declining enrollment.”
Mascenic’s enrollment as of October 2021 was 936 students, up from 872 last year but down from pre-pandemic 2019 numbers of 1,021. In response to this, the district eliminated some full-time staffing positions, including a family and consumer science teacher.
Major factors in the budget increase include salaries and benefits, which make up 67% of the operating budget, and transportation, which increased by 6% due to the district’s contract. There were also increases in health care rates by 6.3% and estimated dental rates by 5%.
The other warrant articles include an appropriation $21,000 for the Food Service Capital Reserve Fund in order to help fund renovation of the cafeteria kitchen at Boynton Middle School that Anderson called much-needed, and $20,000 for the Healthcare Capital Reserve Fund to provide the district funds if employees undergo significant plan changes, such as moving from a single plan to a family plan.
Also on the warrant is the district’s collective bargaining agreement with the Mascenic Education Association, with an anticipated increase of $245,269.
“The summary for this proposed contract is that it is the first step in moving towards larger savings for the district on health insurance premiums to move the teachers from a traditional to a consumer-driven health plan,” Anderson said. “And to achieve teacher retention with salaries that are competitive to surrounding districts.”
The collective bargaining agreement is the only item on the warrant that School Board members did not unanimously recommended for passage. The vote to support the measure was 3-2, and Anderson was one of those minority votes, as she said she felt the increase would not be financially sustainable in the long term.
“Teachers are deserving of an increase,” she said. “I just felt that the amount of increases were much too drastic over the length of the three-year contract. That being said, since the board voted in favor of the contract and it is the duty of the minority to support the majority decision after a vote is taken, going forward, I am in full support of the contract.”
Mascenic’s deliberative session is scheduled for Feb. 2 at 6 p.m. at Mascenic Regional High School.