Vassalboro school budget will not increase town’s tax rate

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Vassalboro Community School. (source: jmg.org)

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro School Board members have given preliminary approval to a 2020-21 school budget that, for the second year in a row, will not increase the town’s tax rate.

At the April 14 school board meeting, board members thanked Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer, who in turn thanked staff members at Vassalboro Community School (VCS) and in the regional school consortium and Town Manager Mary Sabins.

At the joint meeting with the budget committee that followed the school soard meeting, board member Jolene Gamage warned budget committee members and people watching the virtual meetings that the flat tax cannot last forever.

“It’s not fair to the kids,” she said, to postpone building maintenance, updated textbooks and other expenditures indefinitely.

Another budget-related issue was discussion of the decision to reduce the Gifted and Talented teacher’s position from five to three days a week. Gamage said she received an email questioning the balance between supporting gifted students and supporting those who qualify for the extra help provided by special education services.

Board Chairman Kevin Levasseur agreed with Gamage that families move to Vassalboro because of its high-quality special education program.

“That’s who we are. That’s who we’ve been for a number of years,” Levasseur said.

Pfeiffer estimates between three and five percent of VCS students are identified as gifted and talented. About 27 percent qualify for special education, he said.

The summary sheet for the overall budget shows almost $1.469 million for special education and more than $3.477 million for VCS (essentially, pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade regular education, including the Gifted and Talented program). The third major category in the $7.967 million dollar budget is tuition, at slightly over $2 million.

In addition to next year’s budget, board members made decisions and heard reports on various school-related activities.

They unanimously approved keeping VCS closed until further notice and resuming in-building classes only when recommended by Governor Janet Mills, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Maine Department of Education (DOE). They hope that classes can reconvene for a day or two this spring to ease the transition into summer vacation and fall classes.

Pfeiffer said after surveying staff members, he recommended that virtual teaching continue through what would have been April vacation. Skipping vacation and other schedule adjustments made it possible to move the last day of classes to Friday, June 5. Board members unanimously approved.

The preliminary 2020-21 calendar has classes beginning Tuesday, Aug. 25. Pfeiffer said the proposed calendar is coordinated with Waterville and Winslow high schools and Erskine Academy.

Principal Megan Allen described some modifications to the virtual learning schedule that started in March. The virtual learning is “basically refining skills” rather than adding new educational content, she said.

Plans for the near future include virtual parent-teacher conferences; making it easier for students to access computers; and distributing a newsletter, both in printed copies around town and on the VCS website. The pre-kindergarten screening originally scheduled for late April is postponed.

Vassalboro school buses are still delivering meals. Assistant Principal Aaron McCullough said on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays volunteers assemble in the VCS kitchen to pack 390 bags with two breakfasts and 390 more with two lunches. Other volunteers ride the bus routes to deliver the free meals wherever a student’s family is waiting.

School board members unanimously approved continued participation in the town’s solar energy project. First intended to create a solar farm somewhere in Vassalboro, the plan is now amended to buy power from a solar development outside town boundaries.

After a special April 20 meeting that included information from and discussion with attorney Aga Dixon, of Drummond Woodsum, the Portland firm consulted by many Maine school officials, school board members did not take the final step of agreeing to a contract to buy solar power. Instead, they plan to hold another special meeting Tuesday evening, April 28.

The next regular Vassalboro School board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday evening, May 19, and is planned as a virtual meeting.

Vassalboro selectmen, school board, budget committee agree on proposed 2020-21 budget

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by Mary Grow

In successive meetings April 14 and 16, Vassalboro Budget Committee members reviewed and endorsed proposed 2020-21 school and municipal budgets. They reviewed an almost-final draft of the town meeting warrant and agreed with selectmen’s and school board members’ recommendations on proposed expenditures.

Because the annual town meeting at which voters act on the next year’s budget has been postponed to June 22 (tentatively), Town Manager Mary Sabins and the school department have extra time to put the warrant in final form.

The proposed budgets in their current forms will leave the Vassalboro tax rate where it is this year. The amount of money needed from taxation has increased; however, Town Manager Mary Sabins expects property valuation will also have increased due to new construction so that the money will come from a bigger base. If, as Sabins expects, the assessor increases all valuations by at least five percent, to come closer to state standards, each taxpayer’s valuation will increase but the rate should go down enough to balance the increase.

However, there are still budget uncertainties. For example, Selectman John Melrose said the Kennebec County budget might increase more than selectmen expect. Revenues from the state and federal governments are less certain than usual in the current economic situation.

Since school board members began budget review in mid-March, they have reduced the money needed from taxation by more than $295,000, partly by deleting items and partly by reallocating funding to other sources.

Major deletions from the initial proposed budget include reducing insurance costs, after the increase for 2020-21 came in at less than one percent; cutting two full-time positions, Gifted and Talented and librarian/media specialist, to 3/5 positions; and refiguring the tuition account.

The school department has transferred half a special education secretary’s salary and benefits to MaineCare.

Two new expenditures that board members consider essential are replacing the antiquated and unreliable telephone/intercom system and hiring a math specialist in addition to the reading specialist (a position VCS has had for years that will be filled by a new person in the fall as Kathy Cioppa retires). The budget approved April 14 pays for the first-year telephone/intercom lease with money saved during the current shutdown and for the math specialist from Title I federal funds.

Budget committee members have repeatedly asked how much money the shutdown is saving. Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer said the administration is keeping track but not yet totaling figures. He estimated up to $40,000 will not be spent on heating the building, using buses daily and for field trips, hiring substitute teachers, paying coaches’ stipends for spring sports and other items.

Regional school association staff now need to translate the budget accepted by the School Board into the warrant articles required by the state.

The draft municipal budget, like the school budget, should have no effect on the tax rate, assuming no major changes in non-tax revenues or required expenditures.

At their April 16 meeting selectmen made decisions on previously-discussed topics (see The Town Line, April 9 and also here).

They are not recommending a pay freeze for staff, nor are they recommending additional pay increases in the public works department based on length of service. Sabins polled five nearby towns and found their raises will proceed as planned, and Vassalboro school officials intend to honor contractual pay increases. Sabins said municipal employees are scheduled to get a 2.5 percent increase.

Board Chairman Lauchlin Titus said so far there is no sign that the world-wide drop in oil prices will translate into lower paving costs by summer. Selectmen added $16,000 from undesignated fund balance to the paving budget to reduce demand on taxes. If paving costs do drop, they hope to do additional work, for example, paving at least part of the town garage driveway.

The volunteer fire department’s request for a new fire truck is in the town meeting warrant, under terms that would postpone the first payment from taxation until the summer of 2023. However, the selectmen unanimously and the budget committee by a 6-2 vote (with two abstentions) advise voters to reject the article.

Titus said out of respect for the firefighters, he wanted the article presented to voters; but, he told budget committee members, he thinks “it’s a big commitment for the town to enter into in the current situation.”

Vassalboro budget committee and school board members come to three conclusions

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by Mary Grow

Two Vassalboro Budget Committee meetings April 7 and 9 plus an April 7 school board meeting led to three conclusions.

The first was that nobody had final figures for a 2020-21 school budget, and if the town meeting were to be postponed from June 1, both committees might have their April deadlines extended. Gov. Janet Mills’ April 10 announcement moving the primary election from June 10 to July 14 made a local extension more likely; selectmen will probably decide at their April 16 meeting.

The second conclusion was that under the circumstances, town officials must make every effort to limit spending and, if possible, hold the 2020-21 tax rate at or below the current year’s rate. Below is preferable, several budget committee members said, because of the planned town-wide valuation increase that will increase tax bills even if the tax rate is unchanged.

Town Manager Mary Sabins notified committees of the impending increase, needed to realign Vassalboro valuations with state valuations and avoid, or at least delay, a costly town-wide revaluation.

The third conclusion, primarily among school board members, is that no matter how tight the budget, cutting items essential for education and for safety is a bad idea. After this spring’s disruption, students will be likely to need more help than usual in the fall, Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer and Vassalboro Community School Principal Megan Allen agreed.

The school board has reduced two positions, the Gifted and Talented teacher and the librarian, from full-time to three days a week. One position was eliminated from special education earlier in the year, Pfeiffer said.

He, Allen and School Board Chairman Kevin Levasseur all strongly support the one new position planned, a math specialist who would work with the new literacy specialist (needed to replace Kathy Cioppa, who is retiring) to expand assistance to students needing extra help.

After discussion, school board members abandoned their earlier proposal to eliminate funding for a new telephone and intercom system, considering it necessary for safety. The current one is unreliable, Technical Systems Administrator/Teacher David Trask said, and the only way to tell it’s not working is to try to use it – not a good situation in an emergency.

When budget committee members joined the virtual school board meeting, school board members explained the importance of the additional staff member and the telephone/intercom. The former is budgeted at barely over $65,000 for 2020-21, the latter at about $16,000 for the first year of a five-year lease-purchase agreement.

Asked about deferring staff raises, Levasseur said the issue would require negotiation with staff unions, currently in the second year of a three-year contract.

Asked about potential savings from the current shutdown, Pfeiffer said they are being tracked. He foresees savings in several areas – building heat, bus runs, substitute teachers – but has no figures yet.

Levasseur proposed taking more than planned from the school’s undesignated surplus account to reduce the impact on next year’s taxes.

With no final figures on either school or municipal budget requests, and without the crystal ball Chairman Rick Denico wished he had, the April 9 budget committee meeting was short.

Fire department officials Walker Thompson, Bob Williams and Michael Vashon joined the beginning of the meeting to talk about the need for a new fire truck.

Thompson described truck #15, the oldest truck at the Riverside fire station, as “unreliable,” in need of close to $20,000 worth of repairs and mostly out of service already, except that it carries the department’s extrication equipment, which will be transferred to another truck soon. Department officials are making plans to acquire a replacement in the summer of 2021, on lease-purchase, at a total price of around 334,000. The timing of the need for a first payment from taxation will depend on use of the reserve fund and whether the department can get a grant toward the cost.

Between August 2020, when #15’s inspection sticker expires, and the arrival of a new truck in the summer of 2021, Thompson said Vassalboro will rely on mutual aid from Augusta to supply an attack truck for southern Vassalboro.

After the firefighters signed out, staff salaries were a major topic, with Budget Committee members asking whether town and school employees would consider a pay freeze for next year.

Trask, president of the Vassalboro Teachers’ Association, reminded his virtual audience that school staff went through several years of postponed raises early in this century that made their contractual pay scale a hollow shell. In recent years, he said, they have begun to catch up; but Vassalboro school salaries are still so far behind other area schools that hiring and keeping staff is a problem.

As of April 9, the future virtual meeting schedule was as follows Tuesday, April 14, school board at 5:45 p.m. joined by budget committee members at 7 p.m.; and Thursday, April 16, selectmen at 1 p.m. – note daytime meeting – and budget committee at 7 p.m. Interested residents may watch the meetings live on the website by clicking on Information.

Uncertainties persist as Vassalboro selectmen, budget committee prepare budget

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by Mary Grow

In a normal year, Vassalboro selectmen and Budget Committee members get increasingly reliable figures as they move through the municipal budget process, from initial requests in January to definite figures in April for town meeting voters’ action in June.

In 2020 uncertainties are increasing as fast as they’re decreasing, on both the revenue and the expenditure side.

Selectmen held a virtual budget workshop in March 31, and on April 2, after their regular meeting (see below/above/p. ), they and budget committee members talked virtually for another hour and a half.

The goal shared by both committees, but not necessarily with the same specifics, is to provide for municipal needs at a price taxpayers can afford.

In addition to property taxes, revenue comes from excise taxes on motor vehicles, fees, the state and federal governments and other sources. The school budget, which selectmen do not control, is the major annual expenditure. Revenues also support town government and the county tax.

On the revenue side, a major uncertainty is the effect of the economic downturn on state and federal aid to towns and cities.

Another question raised at the municipal budget meetings and earlier among school board members was the effect of unemployment on taxpayers’ ability to pay 2020-21 taxes.

On expenditures, selectmen recommend increasing town support for the First Responders, on the ground of increased need, and increasing the total for firefighters’ stipends, based on current-year expenditures.

They expect the Kennebec County budget request, and therefore Vassalboro’s county tax, will increase, because of additional local responsibilities (see The Town Line, Feb. 27, and March 12). Selectman John Melrose, Vassalboro’s representative on the county budget committee, said budget discussions haven’t yet started.

The draft 2020-21 budget calls for increased funds for road paving, because, Melrose said at the March 12 selectmen’s meeting, after several years of too-little repaving, Vassalboro has begun to catch up. Road Foreman Eugene Field thinks it possible that if oil prices stay low, the price of paving will be lower than expected.

Selectmen reached consensus on reducing several suggested or requested expenditures, including lowering estimated insurance costs; not increasing their own stipends; and eliminating a proposed part-time public works position and not supporting Field’s requested pay increases for veteran employees (see The Town Line, March 19).

The last item led to a recommendation for a later review of longevity provisions in the town’s personnel policy.

Also to be discussed at a later meeting are the Historical Society’s request for a $5,000 donation toward a $45,000 metal storage building (see The Town Line, March 19,).

Selectmen did not delete a request for $2,000 to continue plans to observe Vassalboro’s 250th anniversary (sestercentennial) in 2021. Melrose, with assistance from Fieldstone Gardens, has started anniversary improvements at the East Vassalboro memorial park.

Two major timing questions not yet resolved are when to buy a new town truck and a new fire truck.

No final decisions on municipal budget amounts were made, primarily because budget committee members want to see the final school budget first.

Town Manager Mary Sabins reported that Vassalboro’s overall property valuation has fallen below the level acceptable to the state. Therefore, she said, assessor Ellery Bane intends a town-wide valuation of at least five percent, perhaps 10 percent.

In addition, Sabins proposes asking Bane to begin the first of four quarterly reviews in 2020-21, during which he and his staff will visit about a quarter of the properties in town looking for changes that will affect individual valuations. The review will cost money, she said, but on the basis of past experience, it will bring in more money, from previously-unrecorded changes that increase valuation, than it will cost.

Board Chairman Lauchlin Titus favors proceeding with the quarterly review.

As of April 2, Sabins did not know whether Vassalboro’s June 1 town meeting can be held as scheduled. On the assumption that it will, budget committee members tentatively scheduled April 7 and April 9 meetings, the former to follow a tentatively-scheduled school board meeting.

Vassalboro’s virtual public meetings are announced on the school website, vcsvikings.org, under Information and can be watched there. As of April 6, the website listed the April 7 school board and budget committee meetings and the April 9 budget committee meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m.

Vassalboro Town Office COVID-19 Update (April 2, 2020)

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VASSALBORO TOWN OFFICE CLOSURE

COVID-19 STAY AT HOME ORDER

Effective, Thursday, April 2, 2020 and due to Governor Mills’ recent Stay at Home Order, the Vassalboro Town Office will be closed and unmanned through the end of April.  Every few days, staff will monitor messages on the Town Office answering machine and return calls as needed.  Call the town office at 872-2826 with questions. Thank you for your patience and understanding. The health and safety of the public and the town staff is of utmost importance to us during this challenging time.

Also through the end of April, the Public Works department will be shut down except when road conditions warrant otherwise.  PW Staff will monitor the answering machine at the Public Works Garage every few days and return calls as needed.  Call the garage at 923-3985 to report road issues.

For the foreseeable future, the Selectmen’s meetings and the Budget Committee Meetings will be held remotely through video conferencing.  Use the following link to view the list of meetings and to observe them: https://www.vcsvikings.org/information/online-public-meetings.

At the Transfer Station, a few more changes have been implemented as well.  The Transfer Station will be closed all days EXCEPT Saturday.  On Saturdays for the month of April, only household trash will be received.  Please hold all other types of trash for disposal until regular station hours resume.  We are asking the customer to toss their own garbage in the compactor hopper.  If the customer is physically unable to lift their bag of trash into the hopper, we ask that the bag be left on the ground near the hopper, and George will toss it in while keeping an appropriate “social distance” from the customer.

For residents needing to reach the Code Enforcement Officer and Plumbing Inspector Paul Mitnik, during the month of April he will be working at home and can be reached at 923-3758 or on his cell phone at 313-2648.  Police Chief Mark Brown can be reached at 557-4601.

Vassalboro Community School honor roll spring 2020

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Vassalboro Community School. (source: jmg.org)

GRADE 3

High honors: Caylie Buotte, Emily Clark, Keegan Clark, Basil Dillaway, Baylee Fuchswanz, Zoe Gaffney, Allyson Gilman, Kaitlyn Lavallee, Cheyenne Lizzotte, Mackenzy Monroe, Kaylee Moulton, Callen Pooler and Ava Woods. Honors: Ariyah Doyen, Jack LaPierre, Elizabeth Longfellow, Mia McLean, Jaelyn Moore, Weston Pappas and Landen Theobald. Honorable mention: Devontay Austin, Samuel Bechard, Gabriella Duarte, Preston Duenne, Bayleigh Gorman, Jeremy Hawk, Lillyana Krastev, Hannah McMurtry, Elliot McQuarrie, Noah Rau, Colby Shults, Grace Tobey and Naseem Umar.

GRADE 4

High honors: Jasmine Garey, Drew Lindquist and Paige Perry. Honors: Benjamin Allen, Tristyn Brown, Logan Cimino, Dylan Dodge, Jennah Dumont, Ryleigh French, Drake Goodie, Zachary Kinrade, Gabriella Lathrop, Caleb Marden, Bentley Pooler, Trinity Pooler, Abigail Prickett, Sovie Rau, Kayden Renna, Judson Smith, Hannah Tobey, William Trainor, Alana Wade and Reid Willett. Honorable mention: Taylor Agost, Bentley Austin, Jackson Bailey, Cooper Lajoie, Katherine Maxwell, Brandon Neagle and Landon Sullivan.

GRADE 5

High honors: Madison Burns, Scott Fitts, Cody Grondin, Kelty Pooler, Natalie Rancourt, Taiya Rankins and Bryson Stratton. Honors: Kayliana Allen, Nataleigh Brown, Tyler Clark, Tallulah Cloutier, Sophie Day, Ryley Desmond, Eilah Dillaway, Wyatt Ellis, Madison Field, Xavier Foss, Adalyn Glidden, Bailey Goforth, Spencer Hughes, Mason Lagasse, Jack Malcolm, Harley McEachern, Josslyn Ouellette and Mackenzie Oxley. Honorable mention: Peyton Dowe, Caspar Hooper, Alexis Mitton, Noah Pooler, Kole Pratt and Grady Sounier.

GRADE 6

High honors: Emily Almeida, Madison Estabrook, Jacob Lavallee, Ava Lemelin, Paige Littlefield and Hannah Polley. Honors: Elisha Baker, Addyson Burns, Quinn Coull, William Ellsey, Seth Hansen, Talula Kimball, Brayden McLean, Alexandria O’Hara, Mylee Petela, Leahna Rocque amd Addison Witham. Honorable mention: Saunders Chase, Mckenzie Duenne, Aiden Hamlin, Taylor neptune, Daniel Ouellette, Emily Piecewicz, Lilian Piecewicz, Abigail Sims and Leah Targett.

GRADE 7

High honors: Noah Bechard, Allison Dorval, Ellie Giampetruzzi, Ava Kelso, Greta Limberger, Phoenix Mills, Ava Picard ad Wallace Pooler. Honors: Brooke Blais, Landen Blodgett, Sofia Derosby, Brady Desmond, Kailynn Houle, Josiah Hussey, Bodi Laflamme, Noah Marston, Alysha Opacki, Seth Picard, Grant Taker and Emma Waterhouse. Honorable mention: Evan Brochu, Kaylene Glidden, Echo Hawk, Kyran Kinrade, Ava Prickett and Sterling Williams.

GRADE 8

High honors: Elizabeth Brown, Gage Dorval, Cole Fortin, Meilani Gatlin, Tara Hanley, Nathan Polley, Tristan Samuelson, Lara Stinchfield and Lilian Taylor. Honors: Hunter Brandt, Connor Coull, Isaballa Day, Aleigha Gooding, Lucas Haskell, Ethan Lyon, Carlos Michaud, Ann Prickett and Logan Rockwell. Honorable mention: Nathalia Carrasco, Madelynn Cimino, Lexus Field, Tyler Hansen, Sophie Leclerc, Brody Loiko, Hannah Piecewicz and Brandon Wood.

No awards from Oak Grove Foundation this year

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Oak Grove School Foundation will not be sending grant awards this Spring due to the Covid-19 virus and the stressed condition of our financial resources. We are thankful for all the people in our community who exert themselves for the well being of the young people that Oak Grove seeks to support. We look forward to recovering from this pandemic and returning to the major grant business in 2021.

Vassalboro school board members briefly discuss first draft of 2020-21 budget

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Vassalboro Community School. (source: jmg.org)

by Mary Grow

In addition to review of plans for operating during shutdown (see The Town Line, March 26), Vassalboro School Board members at their March 24 meeting briefly discussed the first draft of the 2020-21 school budget.

They and Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer intended to meet again March 31 to review a revised budget and to discuss it with the Budget Committee later the same evening. However, as of March 30 final figures for insurance were not available, and since the cost of insurance could affect staffing, both meetings were cancelled.

Last year, Pfeiffer reminded board members, “a perfect storm of good numbers” made possible a small reduction from the previous year. The March 24 version, if left intact through the budget review process and approved by town meeting voters, would have increased the tax rate by about one mil ($1 for each $1,000 of valuation).

Pfeiffer asked School Board members if that increase was acceptable, and if not, what would be. They unanimously asked him to aim for a maximum increase of half a mil. Jolene Gamage was unenthusiastic about even that amount, since the pandemic is costing people jobs. On the other hand, she could not see obvious places to cut proposed school expenditures.

Pfeiffer promised to “review, readjust, shave down” to try to meet board members’ target.

As of March 31, Pfeiffer said the school board planned to meet at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, April 7, with budget committee members joining them at 7 p.m. The meetings will be virtual; those interested can watch them on the Vassalboro School website, vcsvikings.org.

Vassalboro Planning Board public hearing canceled

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The Vassalboro Planning Board public hearing on amendments to the shoreland zoning ordinance, scheduled for Tuesday, April 7, has been canceled, according to Codes Enforcement Officer Paul Mitnick.

Vassalboro school board hears plans for schools during shut down

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Vassalboro Community School. (source: jmg.org)

by Mary Grow

Vassalboro School Board members held their first virtual meeting March 24, and thanks to the technical expertise of David Trask and Will Backman it worked efficiently. From their homes, board members and administrators discussed issues and made decisions as though they were sitting in the same room.

Much of the discussion involved reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic that made the virtual meeting necessary. Vassalboro Community School (VCS) has not held classes since Friday, March 13; decisions included unanimous votes to retroactively approve the closure from March 16 to March 27 and extend it to April 27.

Superintendent Alan Pfeiffer congratulated staff and administrators on their response to the situation. He has spent a lot of time coordinating action and exchanging ideas with state education officials and other area superintendents, he said.

VCS Principal Megan Allen said she has focused on keeping teachers and students connected and parents informed. Plans being made for April include daily check-ins with students via video, email or other technologies; sending lists of virtual learning opportunities students may visit if they choose; robocalls sharing new developments; and information about when and how best to reach a teacher.

Teaching staff are expected to spend at least five hours a week doing on-line professional development. Some might choose to explore more ways to communicate from a distance, Allen said.

Rather than eliminate school breakfast and lunch programs, VCS bus drivers and volunteer staff members are using big yellow buses for morning and noon meals-on-wheels deliveries, Pfeiffer said.

Allen said about 300 meals go out on each run. VCS’s enrollment is about 418, she added. There is plenty of food available, Pfeiffer said, but one item on his to-do list is finding out whether state education officials approve of the program.

At one point, the superintendent said, VCS ran low on bags for the meals. Bus driver Bob Hall appealed to Carl and Phyllis Farris, owners of Lakeview Lumber, in China, and the Farrises donated an ample supply of bags.

On other topics, school board members unanimously accepted the resignation of Kyle Irvine as Educational Technician I, Life Skills Program, and hired Tanya Doyon as his replacement. Pfeiffer said Irvine is pleased to be moving into a vacant position on the custodial staff, and welcomed Irvine’s experience and skills.

Allen and Waterville-based central office Special Education Director Amy Benham said Doyon had been at VCS only a week when the school shut down, but both said she had already made a good impression.

Board members discussed their involvement with the town-sponsored solar energy project. Pfeiffer and Jessica Clark, school board representative on the town solar committee, said the latest proposal is to buy into an out-of-town solar farm rather than have one built in Vassalboro, and the question is whether school board members are still interested. A decision was postponed to the special board meeting scheduled for 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, mostly for more work on the 2020-21 school budget.

The next regular school board meeting is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 14, “hopefully in person,” Board Chairman Kevin Levasseur said.