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Lew-Port working on 2014-15 budget

by jmaloni
Sat, Mar 22nd 2014 09:00 am

L-P athletics department seeks increase

by Janet Schultz

The Lewiston-Porter Board of Education urges residents of the district to attend its weekly budget workshops on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. in the Community Resource Center (times could vary, visit www.lew-port.com for more information).

Thus far, the Lew-Port Board has made no solid decisions on the spending plan. At sessions held in past weeks, the board has been looking at enrollment projections, revenue projections and is going through each area of the budget looking at expenditure projections.

School Superintendent Christopher Roser reported the district is waiting to hear from the state on what the figures are relative to the GAP Elimination and state aid.

"The gap between our revenues and what we have on the table is $1.3 million," Roser explained. "I do have ideas on how to bring that together. At this point, there would be no reduction in staff."

Up next at the Tuesday, March 25, budget workshop will be a discussion on programming at all levels.

The annual budget hearing is set for Tuesday, May 13, at 6:30 p.m., in the Community Resource Center. The annual meeting and election will be Tuesday, May 20, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., also in the Community Resource Center.

Petitions for nomination of a candidate for the Board of Education are now available at the district office or at www.lew-port.com and are due to the district clerk no later than 5 p.m. Monday, April 21. Positioning will be held Tuesday, April 22.

This week, the board reviewed the Lewiston-Porter athletic department's proposed budget request, which included small increases for officials and transportation. Athletic Director Scott Townsend explained sports officials are in contract negotiations, and the cost of transporting students to athletic events increases with the rising costs of fuel.

"There is also an increase in the budget for extended seasons when our teams move on after the regular season," Townsend said.

He also explained that with the district's excellent sports facilities, teams like to play at Lew-Port and thus the district becomes responsible for hiring the officials.

"Our student participation is at 44 percent in grades 7 through 12. We want kids to get involved so we want to offer as much as we can, as cost effective as we can," Townsend added.

Board members said they hope cuts made last year in the co-curricular area are adequate and that no further cuts will have to be considered for 2014-15.

In other news:

•Lewiston-Porter Middle School held a weeklong fundraising blitz, netting $500 for Pennies for Patients. The entire student body also dressed "Blue for Ben" in honor of Ben Sauer, who has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

•The high school will hold a blood drive from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 25.

•The next regular board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 22, at 6:30 p.m. in the Community Resource Center.

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