A flat Wiscasset school budget would mean staff cuts, School Committee Chairman Steve Smith said Oct. 29.

Under the school department’s latest projections, next year’s costs would top this year’s $8.4 million in spending by $340,000, he said.

Smith expressed support for a five-percent hike to avoid cuts he said would have to come from the biggest piece of the budget pie, by far: jobs.

They account for 80.6 percent of the 2015-16 budget, according to information Superintendent of Schools Heather Wilmot provided.

Smith also floated an idea to ask the town to spend seven percent more on education, not five percent.

“We owe the kids to invest money somewhere in the system so (that’s) another couple percent,” he said during the meeting in the Wiscasset Middle High School library.

In  September, Smith asked fellow committee members to think about how much of a hike they were willing to support, because, at their next meeting, he would ask them. On Oct. 29, he did.

The response was mixed, with no one but Smith ready to cite a percentage they could get behind. They didn’t have to pin down a number, just lay a foundation for the next discussion in November, he said. That’s when he will ask for their priorities in the  next budget.

Member Glen Craig wondered how taxpayers would take the idea of costs heading back up, in the second year since Wiscasset Primary School closed.

“I’d like to see zero increase. I think we can get good education for the right price,” Craig said. “I don’t know exactly what that is yet, because I don’t have all the factors.”

“Zero increase is firing staff,’ Smith said.

If more cuts could have been made, they would have been made when the schools consolidated, member Michael Dunn said. “I think we’ve kind of established this as being the baseline budget to start with.”

Member Chelsea Haggett said she didn’t think cutting $300,000 was realistic. “I support an increase. I don’t know what percentage,” she added.

Member Eugene Stover suggested showing residents what next year’s budget would have looked like without the school consolidation that saved about $1,000,000 this year. Smith encouraged residents to attend upcoming meetings as budget talks continue.

The committee meets next at 6 p.m. Nov. 19 in the Wiscasset Middle High library, Administrative Assistant Stacey Souza said.

Three buses of concern

Maintenance and Transportation Director John Merry said he is concerned about crowding and students’ young ages on three buses. A large number of students appear to have moved over the summer from the south end of town to the north end, he said.

“We’ve got a huge amount of little kids. It’s difficult for the driver to manage the discipline,” he told committee members.

Parents have called saying there are too many students on board. “They’re standing at the bus stop watching their kindergartner or first grader walk up and down the aisle trying to find a seat because it’s three to a seat,” Merry said.

Wilmot has been responsive to his concerns, and he is working with drivers on a plan, Merry said. “I only want to make the change once,” to minimize the disruption, he said.

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