WOODBINE – Board of Education Business Administrator Alan Parmalee introduced the proposed 2014-2015 budget at a special meeting March 18. The $5.5-million spending plan calls for a tax rate increase of 5.5 percent. That translates into a $59 tax increase for homes assessed at $122,000, and a $95 increase for homes assessed at $198,000.
Parmalee said that much of the increase is due to debt service. The board owes $746,023 for solar panels and improvements approved in a referendum in 2009.
Resident Greg Hudgins told the board, “The community can’t afford this. The system does not pay for itself as promised. The kids are fine; it’s the community that needs help. A $95 tax increase may not sound like a lot, but to the retirees on fixed incomes, it hurts.”
Hudgins said that after months of promises the 2009 referendum would not increase taxes; the school board has raised taxes each year since the project was approved. “Nine cents the first year, five cents the second, and now this. The roof is killing us,” said Hudgins. “Woodbine already has the second highest school tax rate in the county, and we have another 13 years to pay on this project.”
Despite the objections, the board voted unanimously to approve the budget, which will be submitted to the county superintendent for approval, before being returned to the board for adoption.
The board also approved the retirement of four faculty members effective July 1. Superintendent Linda Anderson-Towns explained that after replacements are hired, the district anticipates a salary savings of $133,000.
Sharon Popper, one of the four retiring teachers at the close of the school year, urged board members to use the money saved to hire basic skills teachers. “Aides are a great help in the classroom, but there are limitations on what they can do. You need basic skills teachers, even if part-time without benefits, to help the students.” Reflecting on her tenure, Popper noted that several current members of the board were once students in her classroom.
The board thanked Popper and her retiring colleagues for their “many years of dedication to the district.”
To contact Don Tozer, email dtozer@cmcherald.com.
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