The Superintendent of Schools has just provided the proposed budget in notebook form to the school committee and some community members are already expressing concerns that it will be too high and add a significant tax burden to homeowners. It is important to remember that budget building is a process and no final decisions have been made.

The budget-building process begins in the fall as teachers and school administrators review their programs and assess educational needs that should be addressed. Each building staff member submits a proposal with rationale to building leaders who review and analyze the data and align it with building and district educational goals. The administrators meet extensively with central office staff and a proposed budget is compiled. This preliminary budget is what has been given to the school committee. Careful consideration and cuts have already been made at each step along the process, and, of course, in their review, the school committee will consider and review each budget line and proposal. This process will include at least six school committee meetings and began with an initial presentation on Feb. 28. Superintendent Heather Perry provided the following statement, “I have worked to create many budgets in my 16 years as a superintendent of schools in Maine, many of which started out very challenging, but all of which ended with the “right” budget for the community.”