MIDDLEBURY — Voters in the Addison Central Supervisory Union’s seven towns will be asked on Town Meeting Day to support a 2011-2012 spending plan of $15,643,007, which represents a 2.03-percent decrease in spending compared to this year.
The decrease allows UD-3 — which includes the combined budgets of Middlebury Union Middle School and High School — to meet the state’s “Challenges for Change” directive.
That calls on all Vermont school districts to trim their respective 2011-2012 spending by around 2 percent to help state government save $23 million. The UD-3 budget OK’d by school board members Tuesday evening surpasses the Challenges expectation by almost $35,000.
The proposed UD-3 spending plan maintains the MUMS lacrosse program, which had been on the chopping block in an earlier draft of the budget reviewed by school directors last month. The final budget OK’d for voters features more than $300,000 in spending cuts, including, at MUHS, a 40-percent technical support position; a 40-percent health education position; a part-time clinician; the golf and alpine skiing programs; an assistant varsity football coach and an assistant lacrosse coach; some athletic transportation; an advisor for the Youth Alive program, which has seen no student participation of late.
At MUMS, the savings include $82,000 in personnel costs, primarily in the areas of special education and library services, $88,000 in special education expenses, due to less costly tuition and transportation expenses, a reduction of $13,000 in debt service, a savings of $13,000 in buildings and grounds expenses, and an anticipated savings of $24,000 in ACSU assessments.
Reporter John Flowers is at [email protected].