The Alternative Organizational Structure (AOS) 98 board approved a $1,815,670 budget for the 2025 fiscal year Feb. 26. Despite a spending increase, the budget shows some cost decreases.  

The budget is up 6.7% ($114,590) in spending over the previous year. The total $783,666 cost to member schools is split between Boothbay-Boothbay Harbor ($463,774), Edgecomb ($158,301), Georgetown ($126,405) and Southport ($35,186.) However, that assessment represents an overall 2% ($16,139) decrease. According to AOS 98 Superintendent Robert Kahler, the district has enough of a fund balance to lower the assessment because they put money in it last year to offset expenses.

The Southport and Edgecomb school district’s cost allocations decreased by 14.8% ($7,124) and 14.4% ($26,614), respectively. However, Boothbay-Boothbay Harbor’s and Georgetown’s increased by 2.8% ($12,604) and 4.1% ($4,995). According to Kahler, allocations are calculated using a formula based on student population, so changes in a few students make a large percent difference for small schools. 

The largest increases were around the development of an in-house finance office for AOS 98 after losing their accounting firm. Kahler said he expected the increase because two jobs and costly accounting software are needed to fill the gap. Recently, AOS 98 hired Kathleen Pearce as the director of finance and implemented the software. Central office staff salaries, the largest line increase, went up 295% ($156,855) with additional costs for insurance and benefits. However, Kahler said he is hopeful about getting new subsidies or reimbursements from the state, which they did not receive while using the accounting firm. In addition, he said there is an advantage to having fast access to financial experts in-house.  

“We don't know in the end if it's going to be kind of a wash,” he said. He later added, “cost-wise, it's going to be a little more expensive, but it's going to give us much more sort of local control over things.” 

The board also approved a $992,004 Educational Service Center (ESC) budget for the 2025 fiscal year. It is 6.2% ($58,229) higher than the 2024 fiscal year. According to the district, almost all of it comes back to AOS 98 as revenue.  

In other business, the board created a new finance committee and policy committee to advise on specific issues. The board agreed to establish the groups, but most details still need to be worked out, including the members. According to Kahler, each school has its own policies, but there are not many at the AOS 98 level and they need to adopt their own. He said the budget committee could meet a few times a year to answer basic questions about the budget before including the larger board.