By David Harry

Staff Writer

The road between introducing and voting on a budget is long.

Sometimes the road takes unexpected turns, as happened last week when Maine Department of Education officials announced local schools will receive $561,000 more in state subsidies than anticipated next year.

The announcement means the overall state subsidy will be reduced by about $1.46million instead of $2.03 million. How the restored subsidy will affect the proposed fiscal year 2011 school budget will not be fully known until the March 18second reading of the budget, said Board of Education Chairman Brian Dell’Olio.

The second reading will be followed by a board vote on the budget. If passed, the budget will be forwarded to the Town Council April 7.

Until last week’s announcement, Dell’Olio and the board had been considering public comments on a proposed fiscal year 2011 budget reducing spending from the current $35.19 million to $34.41 million. The proposed 2011 budget asks taxpayers to pay an additional $1.6 million in property taxes.

Districts throughout the state became the beneficiaries of revised revenue forecasts by state officials and more federal Medicaid money, Gov. John Baldacci announced last week. The revenue forecasts add $50.9 million and $27.8 million more in Medicaid money is available.

The extra money allows Baldacci to restore $37 million in health and human service said and $20 million in education aid for K-12 students he ordered cut to help close a $438 million budget gap, he said. Changes in the funding must be approved by the Legislature, which is seeking to close a $360 million state budget gap.

A vote on the budget drafted by finance committee members comes after two public hearings and two forums since its first reading Feb. 24.

The proposed budget reduces spending by about $786,000 and cuts about 43 school department positions.

Program reductions include foreign language instruction in grades three through five and the scope of middle school health education.

The current budget also calls for $250,000 in revenue to be generated from student activities fees, including athletics.

As the board considers what revisions might be made to the budget before it is presented to the Town Council, Scarborough resident Christine Kukka said she hopes board and town council members will consider results from a survey she helped develop.

Kukka,an organizer of Saving Excellence in Scarborough Schools, launched an online survey last month asking residents about school and municipal budget priorities that drew responses from 326 adults and 232 students, she said.

About57 percent of  adults responding identified themselves as parents, and 50 percent of those answering the question said they are residents, Kukka said.

Kukka said she wanted to hear from adults and students as she pushes for wider town discussion of how all town services can be delivered more efficiently and where education fits in town priorities.

Adult respondents answered 14 questions on a scale of 1 to 5 from “strongly disagree”to “strongly agree.”

Ina yes or no question, 74 percent favored increasing property taxes to offset any proposed cuts to education or municipal services. The levels of suggested increase varied, but Kukka said they averaged $366 a year or 6 percent to 8percent above the current rate of $12.15 per $1,000 of assessed value.

Kukka said she found just as interesting were written responses to four questions that asked which town services are essential, which might be cut and how to make the cuts.

Kukka said the student responses were gratifying because they were so numerous. She credited students using a Facebook page to draw attention to the survey site.

The results, which Kukka also hopes will be considered by town councilors before they are presented the school budget April 7, are available atsessscarborough.wikispaces.com.

Partial restoration of state subsidies will not affect the $1.13 million curtailment from the fiscal year 2010 state subsidy of $7.04 million, and the fiscal year2012 outlook is bleak, said Department of Education Director of Finance and Operations Jim Rier.

Federal stimulus funds will not be available to bolster general purpose aid for fiscal year 2012, Rier said.

The restored funds surprised him after revenue forecasts had come up short over the least couple years, he said.

“Iwould have thought it was getting worse. But as concerned as we are with 2011,we are more concerned about 2012,” Rier said.

Staffwriter David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219