The SAD 19 Board of Directors in Lubec held a public meeting on Tuesday, April 29, to provide information about the costs of the proposed new school budget. The sometimes contentious meeting, attended by over 100 residents, featured statements of support for the school board and administration, sharp questioning of costs and staffing levels and some heated responses from teachers and their supporters over suggestions of combining classes and reining in costs. The subject of the new budget and the proposal for a large tax increase fueled discussions throughout town over the next few days.

Meeting announcements posted around town by the school board stated that the meeting was to explain a significant drop in state aid and four plans, involving increases in local taxes from 4% to 21%, to adjust the forthcoming budget to account for the reduced revenues. At the meeting, only the budget proposal that the board calculated would result in a 21% increase was presented. When asked by a resident why only one choice was presented, chairman Russell Wright responded, "It's like selling a car. We wanted to start high." Later, he explained, "We didn't bring the other options because this is the budget that we feel we want to present." The budget offered would increase school spending by about $30,000, to $2,181,418 for the 2008B2009 school year.

The main cost driving the proposed tax increase is a loss of approximately $300,000 in state funding, because of an increase in valuation of the town. Board member Diane Wilson explained the reduction in funds from the state and the need for the town to pay an additional $83,000 more than last year just to meet the state's minimum funding, known as the foundation allocation. The proposed budget added about $230,000 to the additional local allocation, up from last year's $307,000 to $537,000; this represents funding in excess of the minimum required to receive state aid. Using half of the current surplus revenues, $150,000, and a $30,000 carryover from the previous year, the total local revenues would amount to almost $1,750,000, up from last year's $1,425,000 local contribution.

Town Administrator Maureen Glidden explained that there would be "no increase in the county tax, no increase in the municipal side. Any increase [in taxes] will be in the school budget."

School Superintendent Michael Buckley, after discussing the dates and mechanics of the new, state-mandated two-stage budget approval process, said, "The key question is, what are you willing to pay in local additional taxes? Without cutting people and programs, you have to pay that amount [the additional $300,000]."

Once the floor was opened for questions, a resident asked, "Have you looked at what it would cost if the high school was closed and the students tuitioned out?" Superintendent Buckley said that it would save about $85,000 in the next year. Pressed for specifics, he stated that the cost for tuitioning to Washington Academy would be about $8,500 per student, and that the current cost per student at Lubec High School was "high C about $1,000 to $1,500 more per student." According to figures filed with the state Department of Education, Lubec's per pupil cost for high school students is nearly $13,500 per year; with 44 students expected next year, that would result in savings of $220,000, less the cost of transportation, if students were tuitioned. State testing shows over 50% of 11th graders at WA "meet or exceed" Maine Educational Assessment standards in reading and writing, and 40% in math. Only 13% of Lubec students meet or exceed the standards in reading and writing, and none meet or exceed the standard in math.

Resident Bubba Eaton, describing himself as "the town troublemaker" said that "this is all coming from Augusta. I don't want no teachers cut. If we gotta raise taxes, we gotta raise taxes." High school junior Brian Brodie, accompanied by eight classmates, read a statement, beginning by saying, "We would like to share a few great things that are happening in our school," and listing several awards for the school and individual students. He concluded by saying, "We are proud of our school and being a student at Lubec High School. Thanks to all the people for supporting our school."

Chris Crittenden, husband of a Lubec teacher, made an eloquent plea for the budget. "Our school board has a chance to be moral heroes. We need to fight back, we need to keep the school from whittling us down."

Another resident asked the student-teacher ratio of the school. "Roughly eight to one," answered Superintendent Buckley; Wright added, "That's why they are getting a top-notch education."

According to information provided by the superintendent's office, there are currently 41 students and six full-time teachers at the high school, along with three shared with the elementary school, resulting in a ratio of about six students per teacher. In a study done by the University of Southern Maine, based on data through 2004, Lubec had the fifth highest cost per graduate of all public high schools in Maine. The cost of $44,500 per student was exceeded only by the schools on the islands of Vinalhaven, Islesboro and North Haven, and the Easton Junior-Senior School. Eastport's cost from the same study was $28,500, just under the state average of $30,500. The study included all of the nearly 120 public high schools in Maine.

Peter Boyce asked, "Has the board looked at staffing, doubling up some of the classes? Grade 4 has seven [students], Grade 5, 12. That would be 19 combined. Grade 6 has nine, Grade 7, 10."  Wright responded, "We looked at it and moved on." Several teachers, who attended the meeting in a group, denigrated the suggestion, one saying that "it's not good for the students to put them into combined classes." When another resident said that other area schools had doubled classes and that "the teacher can be working with one group while the other class is working on their own," one teacher responded, "Yeah, like coloring." Other nearby schools, including the Eastport Elementary and the Whiting Village School, have some doubled classes.

The school board must finalize their proposed budget and present it to the town at a public meeting on June 5, when a vote will be held to approve or amend the proposed budget. Five days later, on June 10, pursuant to the new state law, a referendum on the budget will be held. In response to a question at the meeting, Superintendent Buckley said, "I do not know what happens" if portions of the budget are not approved at the June 5 meeting, since the referendum must be held, he said, within five days. Buckley said that he would seek clarification from the state on that question.

At a subsequent meeting among Wright, Wilson and Superintendent Buckley, they reportedly decided to cut an additional $200,000 from their proposed budget.