I will be casting my vote for school board for Fred Wildnauer.  I do not have children in the school system but believe excellent schools increase the value of my property and contribute to the quality of life of the Town.  SAD35 represents the largest share of our property taxes so I am concerned about the budget and want to see a balance where educational quality is maintained and the budget is in line with the economy.  

Fred Wildnauer values education and has a commitment to making sure SAD35 is the best it can be.  Having raised two children who went through SAD35 schools and who went on to competitive colleges, Fred understands the school system from a parent’s perspective.

Fred is concerned about the growing burden that the schools place on property taxes.  I have had the opportunity to talk with Fred about how he would approach addressing the school budget.  I appreciate that he does not have preconceived notions about what needs to happen but would approach his duties on the school board by learning and asking questions.  He is willing to be open to all avenues of cost savings and revenue and sees his role on the Board as one of asking questions and generating discussion.

I know that some in the community feel that the School Board has not been responsive to citizens’ concerns about the budget and some think the Board is unwilling to consider cost cutting measures.  I’m not sure that is true, but I would like to see more dialogue between the School Board and citizens about the budget.  To make that happen I would like someone like Fred Wildnaur on the Board; someone who will not be afraid to ask questions about all aspects of the budget and who is willing to participate in a constructive dialogue about how to control the budget while maintaining quality of education.

I appreciate having a local small business owner on the School Board.  Those who run small businesses are intimately involved in day to day decisions about where to save money and where to invest.  A successful business owner also has to learn how to maintain operations during lean times.  As the owner of a woodworking business, Fred Wildnaur would bring that perspective to the School Board.

I appreciate that Fred has researched the upcoming Qualified School Construction Bond that is on the ballot and has taken a stance to support it.  Passage of the bond will allow MSAD35 to improve air quality in our older schools and bring them up to code.  The bond offers a unique financing opportunity that will allow the work to be done in a cost effective manner that will not add a burden to taxpayers. (See below for additional information provided by Fred Wildnaur regarding the bond issue.)

That’s why I will be voting for Fred Wildnauer for School Board on November 3.

–Molly Colman

This is additional information that Fred Wildnauer provided regarding the Qualified School Constructin Bond:

The financing for this is once in a lifetime deal. Here is a link to the supporting document that the superintendent’s office put out for the amazingly poor attended information meeting on Monday.

Information from the Superintendent’s office about the Bond: http://www.msad35.net/sites/default/files/QSCB%20INFO_0.pdf

The money for these projects is in the form of normal loans but with the backing of the Federal Government Stimulus package. The way the fed backs this up is by offering tax breaks to the banks that loan out the money. The tax break right now is around 6%. The thinking of the business manager and people on the state level is that the banks will not charge any interest to the borrower (SAD 35) because the tax break is higher than any interest the market would let them charge. They don’t have to not charge interest, but they most likely will not charge interest (a bond is put out to bid). So that’s a good deal by itself, but it gets better! This tax incentive also would make the banks want to keep this as an outstanding note on their books for the life of the loan (15years). Therefore, MSAD will make its payments to the bank as though it was a normal bond but the Bank will put these payments in an interesting bearing account where it will accrue interest over the 15 years. Once the principal and interest in that interest bearing account reaches the loan amount, the note will be paid off saving SAD35 the amount of interest accrued. The business manager figures that even at a conservative rate of 1.5%, this will amount to $330,000 over the 15 years. So, now we have borrowed $3.2 million and bought $3.2 million worth of needed work and will have paid $2.9 million for it. A sweet deal, but there is more. We will do all the work in a year or less so figuring a conservative inflation rate of 2.8% we will save an additional $666,873.  So now the work cost $2.2 million roughly. There’s more. The economy is bad right now so construction prices are at a low. This number can’t be measured yet, but the probability of getting either more work or the work for even less seems strong.

It is okay to be incredibly enthusiastic about this financing package. Even if we don’t get the absolute lowest price on the work (we are contracting this work to a company the school has worked with in the past as a design/build) we can absolutely afford it. My feeling is we can’t afford not to do this. If I am elected, I will take Ralph Stevens place on the facilities committee and I promise I will advocate strongly that the contractor: 1. Uses local help whenever possible. 2. Uses state of the art equipment to squeeze every drop of energy and operating savings out possible and 3. Holds to the prices he has given in the scope of work outlined in the document on the MSAD web site.

The work we are paying for is to maintain our aging buildings (no work on the high school). This will replace aging equipment or put in ventilation equipment where there is none now. This is designed to improve the air quality in our old buildings and to therefore improve the health of our students by bringing everything up to current code.

The superintendent and the school board are convinced that the $200K payment on the bond can come out of the $300K or so that we already put aside every year as a contingency fund for building maintenance. There are plenty of inflationary pressures on the budget but this bond will not be one of them.

–Fred Wildnauer

Here are the races:

For the Town Council seat now filled by Jean Demetracopoulos, whose term is up:

Jean Demetracopoulos will run unopposed.

For the remaining two year term of the Town Council seat that was left open when David E. Webster resigned his seat in July:

Nelly P. Brisson
Ronald Ducharme
Audrey Fortier
David H. Webster (not the same as the David E. Webster who resigned from this seat)

For the South Berwick seat on the MSAD 35 School Board now held by Ralph F. Stevens, whose term is up:

Ralph F. Stevens (incumbent)
Fred Wildnauer

the236diner.com will be inviting all the candidates to respond to a list of questions and will post the candidates’ responses during the month of October.

See all the236diner stories on the 2009 elections

The Friends of the Library is hosting a Candidates’ Forum on October 19, 2009 at 6:30 P.M. at Town Hall Auditorium.

One seat on the SAD 35 School Board and two seats on the South Berwick Town Council will be up for election this November.  The deadline to take out papers to run in the election is September 19.  Anyone seeking to run for School Board or Town Council needs to complete a form with the Town Clerk and get at least 25 signatures from registered voters.  To get the form and to find out more about how to run, contact Town Clerk Barbara Bennett at 384-3300 or at the Clerk’s office at Town Hall.

Maine Municipal Association website has an article that describes the rewards and expectations of holding a municipal office in Maine: So You Are Thinking of Running for Local Office … GREAT!

Here’s an article from Portsmouth Herald about the meeting:
SAD 35 to discuss school budget tonight
Portsmouth Herald News
School Administrative District 35 wants to spend more money in 2008-09, but it’s expecting to get less aid from the state…

Here’s a summary of tonight’s agenda:
-Public Input – 2008-2009 Budget
-Report of the Chairperson: Board Goals 2007-2008
-Report of the Superintendent:
Tami Schoff, Reading Coach, MMS, Presentation
Rich Buzzell, End of Season Athletic Report
Subsidy Update from DOE
Budget Update
Boys’ Varsity Lacrosse Coach
Board Workshop on Curriculum
Other
-Report of the Committees:
Finance and Facilities Committee
Educational Policy Committee
Report of the Community Relations Committee
-New Business:
Overnight trip for the Girls’ Lacrosse team to Portland, ME on April 25-26th.
Policy JFAB/JFAB-E – Admission of Nonresident Tuition Students, First Reading
Delete policy KHE – Political Candidates.
(go to SAD 35 web site for full agenda)

Here’s the SAD35 budget timeline: (go to SAD 35 web site for more budget information)
-April 2 (Wed) School Board Budget Workshop
-April 16 (Wed) School Board Public Input on Budget
-May 7 (Wed) School Board Public Input on Budget – S/B approve budget
-May 9 (Fri) School Board approve and sign warrant (Superintendent’s Office)
-May 12 (Mon) Warrant and Notice to Town Clerks
-May 14 (Wed) Budget mailed to voters
-May 28 (Wed) District Budget Meeting
-June 10 (Tue) Budget Referendum

The policy, described as a measure to increase revenues and maintain programs and services, would allow a student from another community to attend a SAD 35 school following a formal request for admission, approval by the Superintendent, and the payment of tuition at the state-approved rate plus the cost of any special education or other extraordinary services provided to the student. Parents would be responsible for transportation. The policy also includes a clause that retroactive tuition will be assessed for students found to be nonresidents and ineligible for enrollment under law or board policy.

Read the entire policy here. (pdf)