With budget season well underway as Boothbay-Boothbay Harbor Community School District fields draft budgets from schools and special programs, current drafts ask for about a 9% budget increase from last year. The Feb. 12 and Feb. 26 CSD School Committee meetings brought breakdowns from Boothbay Region Elementary and High schools and Gifted and Talented, transportation, health, special education and technology programs.

Alternative Organizational Structure (AOS) 98 Superintendent Keith Laser said the drafts are simply to show the committee what programs or schools are asking for. Laser said his office has yet to add a few items administrators and the committee have expressed interest in like a curriculum coordinator and a program to curb truancy and dropouts.

“(The budget) is definitely not carved in stone,” Laser said in an email. “(There’s) lots of work to be done to pare down all the ‛wishes’ … We hope to wrap it up by late April.”

So far, Gifted and Talented will see a decrease of a couple hundred dollars. The health office is asking for about $2,000 more than last year. Special education and pre-K will be seeking more significant increases considering special ed teacher Toby LeConte’s retirement and the hopes for a full-day pre-K.

BRES

The BRES principal's office proposes a 9.15% or $30,761.90 increase from $335,992.75 to $366,754.65; pre-K, 91.37% increase from $99,046.74 to $189,543.85; K-12th grade instruction, 1.8% increase from $467,402.07 to $475,929.99; third-eighth grade instruction, 0.5% increase from $1,739,932.21 to $1,738,811.48; ESL instruction, 49.37% decrease from $16,038 to $8,061.84; guidance, 1.15% increase from $141,086.83 to $142,713.69; library, 5.2% increase from $79,873.85 to $83,926.78; and curriculum coordination, 8.2% increase from $39,484.02 to $42,722.02. The BRES technology program is proposing a 13.1% decrease from $158,862.75 to $138,044.47

BRHS

The BRHS principal's office is proposing less than one percent in increases from $232,416.48 to $234,231.22; secondary instruction, 1.5% incease from $1,554,102.19 to $1,578,128.45; ESL instruction, 49.7% decrease from $16,038 to $8,061.84; guidance, 19.45% increase from $136,644.08 to $163,224.27; library, 5.2% decrease from $55,039.96 to $52,170.63; curriculum coordination, 1.8% decrease from $30,953 to $30,404; student/staff support, 9.1% increase from $225,287.04 to $245,799.10; and student body activities, 4.6% increase from $202,031.03 to $211,410.03. The BRHS technology program is proposing a 3.2% increase from $229,053.34 to $236,330.57.

CSD programs

The transportation draft budget proposes a 5.1% decrease from $479,628.92 to $455,379.45. The health program is proposing a 2.9% increase from $72,815.85 to $74,895.99. BRES special education proposes a 9.6% increase from $985,403.60 to $1,079,649.59 and BRHS special education proposes a 9.8% increase from $636,660.37 to $699,267.41. Gifted and Talented is so far proposing no increases.