OAKLAND — As they make a third attempt to pass a budget for Regional School Unit 18, district administrators and school board members have indicated that they will make changes to the way in which future budgets are developed.
“We’re trying to give the people what they’ve asked for,” board Vice Chairman Elwood Ellis, of China, said Monday.
One change involves the district’s financial reports, which will clarify the distinction between the amount budgeted for a purpose and the amount actually spent.
“We’re just trying to make it clearer to the public,” Ellis said. “We’re trying to make it so that each category will be very clear.”
Gary Smith, the district’s superintendent, said during a board meeting Wednesday that this and other changes are intended to address criticism that the district has done a poor job of communicating with the public. The communication problem was mentioned often in recent public discussions about the school budget, which voters rejected in June and again in August. Opponents of the budget frequently said their questions were not being answered, while school district representatives said the public didn’t understand the district’s funding crisis fully.
In the future, Smith said, budget information will be presented in a summary format that will be more consistent and can be understood more easily. He said administrators also are talking more about how to improve the process.
Smith said he will work to have better communication with the elected officials in the district’s towns.
The budget cycle also will be shifted so that the district will have more time to react if voters reject a budget.
In addition, the district is exploring the idea of broadcasting its meetings to the public, either in audio or video format.
A third version of the budget is scheduled to come before the public in a district budget meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 20, at Messalonskee High School.
Then voters in the district’s five towns — Belgrade, China, Oakland, Rome and Sidney — will approve or reject the budget during a districtwide referendum Oct. 12.
Matt Hongoltz-Hetling — 861-9287
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