SKOWHEGAN —Maine School Administrative District 54’s top administrator assured the district’s board of directors that the Skowhegan-area district complies with both state and federal anti-discrimination laws, while urging the board not to conflate the contentious political discourse on the issue with local budget decisions.

Jon Moody, superintendent of Skowhegan-based Maine School Administrative District 54. Morning Sentinel file

Conversations locally have been focusing on the public clash between Gov. Janet Mills and President Donald Trump over transgender student participation in sports and the Trump administration’s subsequent threats to Maine’s federal education funding, MSAD 54 Superintendent of Schools Jon Moody told the board of directors at its meeting Thursday.

“They’re using it, I think, quite frankly, as a red herring to encourage people to vote down the budget. And, I think that’s sad,” Moody said. “This board has worked incredibly hard to have a responsible budget.”

Moody’s comments came as the 23-member board is expected to finalize its proposed budget later this month and about one month after a board member tried to call for a vote to take an explicit stance on following federal orders over state law.

Wayne Wofford of Cornville, said at the March meeting he was concerned federal funding for the district could be jeopardized if its policies do not follow a directive from Trump aimed at barring transgender student-athletes assigned male at birth from competing on girls’ teams.

At that time, Moody told the board, which represents the district’s six towns of Canaan, Cornville, Mercer, Norridgewock, Smithfield and Skowhegan, that MSAD 54 complies with Title IX, a civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination at schools that receive federal funding.

District officials have not made updates to its Title IX policies in recent years, as administrators were waiting to see the outcome of legal challenges, Moody said. The district has no policy about athletics that mentions gender identity, Moody said, although its policies about harassment and discrimination include the term “gender identity” to comply with the Maine Human Rights Act.

Moody told the board’s policy committee on March 25 the district’s legal counsel advised MSAD 54 is in compliance with both state and federal laws. The board’s policy committee postponed discussing any policy changes until June. That would likely put off any action until after this year’s budget is approved.

A draft status quo budget — with no new areas of spending — shows an overall proposed spending plan totaling approximately $51.36 million, up about 5.05% over the current year. That figure has already been reduced about $1.24 million from the first draft presented  earlier this year.

About three-quarters of the increase is from employee wages and benefits and other personnel costs, budget figures show.

The portion to be funded by local property taxes now stands at approximately $16.41 million, up about 1.89% over the current year.

That total subtracts from the overall budget state funding for career and technical education and the bond for a new, consolidated elementary school in Skowhegan set to open this fall. The $75 million price tag for the school will be paid for entirely by the state, local fundraising efforts and Congressionally Directed Spending.

The proposed budget also forecasts increased revenues, including increasing the use of undesignated fund balance to $1.77 million and increasing Medicaid billing for services to $600,000.

The key figure remaining that has yet to be factored into the budget is the increase to employee health insurance plans, Moody said. The increase, which the district expects to know in coming weeks, could be anywhere from $200,000 to more than $1 million, he said.

“Which means we’re going to have to come right back to the table and look at cuts,” Moody told the board.

The board of directors will hold a budget workshop to discuss those potential cuts at 6 p.m. April 15 at Skowhegan Area High School. The board is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. April 17 at Skowhegan Area Middle School to vote on the budget it sends to voters later this spring.

With board approval, the budget would then be up to voters of the district’s six towns to review at the district’s annual budget meeting, likely in late May. The total figure approved at that meeting would go to voters again for a yes or no referendum vote, likely in early June.

Inconsistent increases in state valuation among the district’s six towns mean that even with a modest budget increase, some towns will be affected disproportionately, Moody said. Moody’s budget presentation showed what would happen with a 0% budget increase next year.

Each town pays its share through property taxes, and the amount each town pays is based on its property valuation calculated by the state as a percentage of the total state valuation for all six towns. Overall, the six towns’ valuations went up about 10%, budget figures show. The increase, though, varied from town to town.

For example,  the state valuation for Smithfield, one of the district’s smaller towns, increased this year by 15.33%. The valuation for Skowhegan, the largest town, went up 8.46%.

That means Smithfield would be assessed $63,000 more next year than it paid this year while Skowhegan would pay $147,000 less in the hypothetical scenario of no budget increase.

“That is hard for a taxpayer to understand,” Moody said. “And there is nothing you did and can do about it as a board.”

Moody said he may recommend the district consider other factors in its cost-sharing formula, which is currently based only on property valuations from the state. That change requires a somewhat elaborate process outlined in statute, involving the participation of officials from the district’s member towns.

If the school board and towns pursue the change, Moody estimated completing it would take about a year.