Orford
Pay for three elementary school positions could be in jeopardy under a $10.7 million budget proposed for the four-town district, which serves students from Orford, Vershire, Fairlee and West Fairlee.
If approved by voters in March, the spending plan could cut back the hours of a part-time librarian and math teacher, while also eliminating a literacy teacher whose job no longer is supported by grant money, Superintendent Elaine Arbour said on Monday.
However, she hopes that new revenue projections from the state of Vermont and a closer look at the district’s expenses might save the teaching posts, which will be discussed during tonight’s School Board meeting.
“I’m working hard to take another look at the budget in hopes that we don’t need to (make cuts),” Arbour said in a phone interview.
The superintendent’s 2019-20 budget plan amounts to a $112,471, or roughly one percent, increase over current spending levels. But school officials warn that number will grow to about three percent as negotiations wrap up with Rivendell’s teaching and support staff unions.
Unlike some other districts, Rivendell includes the one-year contracts in its operating budget instead of splitting them off into separate warrant articles.
The budget increase is partially the result of several fixed costs, including a projected 11.2 percent hike in health insurance costs, Arbour said.
There’s also plans to add staffing at the district’s administrative offices intended to help it tackle long-term projects and better communicate with the community.
Arbour plan calls for an additional $18,000 for the executive assistant to become a full-time position that would take on several projects and lead communication efforts.
A human resources specialist also would be made full time, and the district would hire a part-time business assistant who could help the financial team change over to a new system.
Absent from the plan are calls to either close a school building or consolidate grade levels.
At the behest of the School Board, Arbour undertook a study earlier this year that examined how the district uses its buildings and whether it could be cost effective to decommission one.
Rivendell currently is spread out across three campuses in both states, and many of those will require upgrades in the coming years. Overall, it cost about $432,000 to keep all buildings running in 2017.
“We haven’t made any formal conclusions but, at this point, I’m not making any recommendations to reconfigure,” Arbour said. “We don’t have the space to close a building, so that would be off the table. And in terms of any grade level reconfiguration, we would need to look at that another year.”
Overall, officials said that Rivendell’s budget process is always a balancing act between the needs of students and those of taxpayers.
“Rivendell has a history of trying to keep spending low, and we’re trying to stay with that, and yet we still don’t want to hurt programming for the kids,” said at-large board member Katherine Blanchard, who lives in Orford.
“We’re really cognizant of the impact that every increase we make has on taxes, and so we’re just trying to be thoughtful about that,” Arbour added.
The School Board will discuss the superintendent’s proposed budget at 6:30 p.m. tonight in the school district’s office, and will continue its review of the proposed budget through January.
The board is then expected to take a final vote on the spending plan on Tuesday, Feb. 5.
Whatever number it decides on will be included on the district’s annual warrant, and voted on by residents during the March 19 annual meeting.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.