By MECHELE COOPER
Staff Writer Sunday, January 21, 2007

A two-year-old funding formula, called Essential Programs and Services (EPS), limits how much schools should spend in certain areas.

While the formula sounds good on paper, it's not realistic for some school systems, superintendents said.

A study released last week by the State Planning Office showed 81 percent of the school units are spending more than they are supposed to under the formula.

The combined budgets of Litchfield's elementary and primary schools were 19 percent, or $986,401, over the spending limit set for those schools.

Susan Hodgdon, superintendent for Union 44 (Litchfield, Sabattus and Wales), said there are a number of reasons why the formula hasn't worked for the two Litchfield schools -- Carrie Ricker Middle School and the Libby-Tozier School.

She said Litchfield had to build a new school after the Carrie Ricker Middle School was leveled by fire 12 years ago.

Under the previous funding model, she said, the state would have forgiven that debt.

"But now, under EPS, the local community had to absorb that expense," Hodgdon said. "It's interesting. There you made one arrangement with the state and do it in good faith, and then the rules changed and now this factors in to us looking like we've overspent."

She said the EPSmodel also doesn't pay for transporting students in grades 9 through 12, so Litchfield, as well as other communities, must pay for it.

Another example of where the formula fails, she said, is with special education. When a student with special needs moves into the school system, that changes the bottom line for Litchfield.

Another school over its limit is Manchester, which was reported spending 14 percent, or $219,785, over its spending limit.

Richard Abramson, superintendent of Union 42/CSD 10 (Manchester, Mount Vernon, Readfield and Wayne), said citizens in Manchester want art and music and physical education for children, which has caused the school to exceed its EPS limit for teachers' salaries.

"EPS doesn't differentiate between an art and French teacher and a classroom teacher," Abramson said. "We have to include all the teachers within the mix. When you are figuring your class size and looking for that 17-to-one (teacher/student) ratio, and add up all the salaries, that's what puts us over the limit."

James Rier, director of finance and operations for the state Department of Education, said the State Planning Office used school budgets to calculate percentages in its study.

He said some of the school budgets included costs for programs not covered under the funding formula, such as the school lunch program, which is federally funded.

These budget items should be presented to voters at their town meetings in separate warrant articles, he said.

Percentages for some of the schools might have been lower, he said, if they hadn't included items not covered by the plan.

"(Some schools) lump all these things in one article for voters to approve," Rier said. "When (State Planning Office) compared the EPS (spending limits) those get lumped into the calculation. They should be voted on in a separate article at town meetings."

This works for unions and municipal schools, he said, not school administrative districts. State statue says those school systems must include everything in their budget, including items covered under the funding formula and those that are not.

Meanwhile, Union 132 Superintendent Frank Boynton said Chelsea Elementary School, over by 11 percent, or $404,600, didn't have enough money under EPS to pay the salaries of teachers and administrators.

Because of the small student population, about 300, EPS only funds 80 percent of the principal's salary. The rest is paid through local funding.

"The school union principals are almost in the role of an assistant superintendent," Boynton said. "He also oversees the buses and lunch program and has much more responsibility in overseeing of the budget, and the total operations of the school than a principal in a SAD or municipal school."

He said other items not funded under EPS include:

n Sports programs and extracurricular activities.

n School lunch programs. Local folks had to pay a larger share of lunch costs, in excess of $30,000, he said, because of reductions in state and federal subsidies.

n Superintendent's office space. It's not included in the EPS model and has to be funded locally.

n Tuition. Chelsea pays about $7,600 per student for high school tuition, which is set by the state, and he said the EPS model only allows $5,700 per student. Chelsea has 170 high school students attending high schools in the area, including Hall-Dale and Cony.

"You're looking at a couple hundred thousand dollars right there, which is a sizable piece of that 11 percent," he said.

"I think we're doing everything we can to provide a complete program and are guarding the taxpayer's dollar very carefully because of the work we do," Boynton said.

"And I think that's being under-estimated."

Mechele Cooper -- 623-3811, Ext. 408

mcooper@centralmaine.com