The Eastport School Committee, at its May 6 meeting, tabled taking any action on teacher and staff contracts for the upcoming year, pending the presentation of a 2009-09 budget proposal. Superintendent Terry Lux has asked the two building principals to help prepare three scenarios for budget cuts, from worst to best cases. Along with a $344,741 cut in state subsidy funds for the Eastport school system, other funding is also being cut, and costs such as fuel are increasing. Lux said that a shortfall of about $400,000 will mean that some positions will have to be cut. With the resignations of elementary school teacher Barbara Will and Shead English teacher Michael Brown, there could be savings in not filling two positions that would not mean letting a teacher go. However, she added, "Probably we will have to go deeper." Shead Principal Paul Theriault noted that the English programs at Shead would not be cut any if the position is not filled.

"It's little iffy at this moment," said Lux of the budget figures. "It's a time crunch." She met with City Manager George Finch and the city budget committee earlier in the day to discuss the school budget. The superintendent said that city officials know that there will have to be some increase in the local share for the school budget.

According to Finch, the municipal portion of the city budget proposal calls for a $77,735, or 1.5%, increase. To absorb a $400,000 shortfall in school funding, the funding from local property taxes might have to increase in the range of 25% to 30%. Finch says that he informed Lux that any more than a 10% to 12% increase in the amount to be raised by local taxes for the total budget probably would not be approved by the council. That level of increase would still mean a cut of approximately $200,000 in the school budget.

Lux will meet again with the school board within the next two weeks to present a budget proposal, and then the budget will go to the city council. This year, under the new school regionalization law, all school budgets also will have to be approved by voters through a budget validation referendum. To save on costs, Lux hopes that the school budget referendum vote in Eastport can be held at the same time as the June 10 primary vote.

As a possible cost-saving measure, Union 104 school boards have had preliminary discussions about the possibility of a middle school for area towns located at the Eastport Elementary School. Up to 100 students could be brought to Eastport, and the middle school grade teachers at the area schools could teach there. Shead teachers also might be able to provide some instruction. Lux felt that people were more receptive to the idea now than in the past.

At the school board meeting, Lux also reported on the most recent reorganization planning committee (RPC) meeting for the new regional school unit (RSU). Although there was some discussion about towns opting out of the regional unit, those towns would be facing increasingly severe fines and might have trouble joining an RSU later, so members felt that would not be a wise choice. It was also noted that the cost for bringing the teacher and staff contracts in Union 104 up to the amounts paid at the highest-paying school district in the RSU, which is Baileyville, would be about $350,000.

Jobs for Maine's Graduates program

Shead Principal Theriault told the board about plans to proceed with the Jobs for Maine's Graduates (JMG) program. JMG is a private, nonprofit corporation that provides students who are at risk of disconnecting from school with the skills and motivation to succeed in education and the workforce. The JMG program is housed in a classroom at the partnering school and is delivered as a one-credit course. The James and Marilyn Rockefeller Education Fund, through the Maine Community Foundation, would provide $22,000 for a JMG program in Eastport, with JMG providing the remainder of the funding for the course and teacher. There would be no cost to Eastport for the first three years. Shead's school-to-work program could be used as matching funds in later years, he said. The program would begin in September for grades 9-12, and he hoped to have 40 to 50 students involved. The JMG program has students interact with employers and community-based organizations. Through service learning projects, students organize volunteer efforts for local charitable organizations, participate in job-shadowing, and invite community leaders and employers into the classrooms for small group discussions. The board indicated its support for proceeding with the program.

Other action

Theriault reported that a curriculum committee at the high school is working on new course of studies materials, a climate committee is working on improving school climate and school and community relations, and a steering committee is working on school-wide grading policies.

The Shead principal said that recruiting efforts at area elementary schools have "gone very well," with an effort also having been made at junior high basketball games. Shead will be losing 23 seniors, and Theriault predicted that the high school should be seeing a substantial increase in enrollment next year.

Theriault said the high school is considering the development of a partnership with the Boat School that would allow Shead students to transition from the high school to the Boat School. "It might help bring tuition students to Shead," he noted.

Upcoming activities include: a college fair at the University of Maine at Machias on May 14; step-up day for eighth graders on May 15, with an open house and a supper at 6 p.m.; a city cleanup on May 21, with Pleasant Point students taking part in a cleanup at Pleasant Point; an academic awards luncheon on May 28; and the athletic banquet on May 29.

Eastport Elementary School Principal Lovina Wormell reported on a ski trip for grades 5-8 at the end of March and upcoming activities, including the eighth grade class trip to Portland at the end of May, a trip to the Greenland Point Center on June 5 and 6 and the eighth grade graduation on June 11. Matt Leahy has been working as a long-term substitute for grades 6-8 in English and social studies. Elementary school coaches are: cross country, Sara Moore; softball, Lamont Sanders; baseball, Dana Bowen; soccer, Ron Sullivan; girls' basketball, Dana Bowen; and boys' basketball, Lamont Sanders. Shead coaches are: softball, Matt Vinson; baseball, Ron Sullivan; and tennis, Heron Weston.

In other action, the board adopted a policy on automated external defibrillators, revised a policy on reporting child abuse and neglect, and gave a first reading to policies on truancy and advertising in the schools. Revisions to the elementary school handbooks were approved, as was the draft of the 2008-09 school calendar.