From the Portsmouth Herald.
Tonights workshop is open to the public. AGENDA
KITTERY, Maine — The Kittery School Committee will meet for the second time to discuss the fiscal year 2015 budget tonight.
Kittery school administrators presented a preliminary budget Feb. 11 that adds more than $233,000 in positions and services, with a net increase of 1.8 percent from the current fiscal year.
The Town Council had asked the School Department to come in with an increase of 1.5 percent, but Superintendent Allyn Hutton said that wouldn’t be possible in order to meet students’ needs.
Included in the budget is an 11.7 percent increase in Hutton’s salary, bringing it to $129,000 under terms of a recently signed three-year contract.
Also included are, among other items, increases in co-curricular stipends, a part-time Spanish teacher at Shapleigh Middle School, an 80-percent-funded internship coordinator at Traip Academy and a pilot pre-kindergarten readiness program.
To accommodate additional teacher training, administrators are suggesting an increase in student days from 175 to 177.
To offset increases, administrators anticipate a $100,000 reduction in special education costs, among other cuts.
The budget workshop gets under way at 6:30 p.m. today, Feb. 25, at Town Hall. A public hearing on the budget will be held March 4.