Scarborough Public Schools
Weekly Newsletter - March 12, 2021
Message from the Superintendent
Dear Friends,
March is always a busy month as we are well immersed with developing our FY2022 School Budget. Please note below of some upcoming dates regarding budget deliberations. Your participation is most welcome and important to us as a school community.
- First Reading - School Board - March 18 - 7:00 pm
- Public Hearing - School Board - April 15 - 7:00 pm
- Second Reading - School Board - May 6 - 7:00 pm
- Referendum Vote - June 8, 2021
As communicated to us from the Maine Department of Education on March 1, Maine’s CDC timeline for opening up additional vaccination opportunities is largely dependent upon the supply of vaccines allocated to our state. The time frame (subject to change) is to have 50 and older will be eligible in April and those 40 and older will be eligible in May. The goal is to have over 70% of all staff have had opportunities for vaccination before June. We are pleased that vaccination of school employees is a top priority during the month of March and registration links have been sent to our educators here in Scarborough.
This week out of Augusta the Governor released information about a plan to increase the maximum number of people in a public space.
For indoor gathering - capacity will increase to 50% starting 3/36/2021 and 75% starting 5/24/2021
For outdoor gatherings - capacity will increase to 75% starting 3/24/2021 and 100% starting 5/24/2021
Lastly, we heard this week the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) java extended a continuation of the Summer Food Service Program and the National School Lunch Program through Summer 2021. This allows us to continue with providing complimentary emergency meals at school, remotely, and on weekends to children from all ages through the summer months.
Enjoy your weekend and thank you for your continued support.
Onward and upward,
Sandy Prince
Governor's Travel Update
Weekly SPS COVID-19 Update
2021-2022 Kindergarten Pre-Registration
We are eager to welcome our newest Kindergarten students to Scarborough Public Schools! We are currently planning for Fall 2021 and will be able to release more information about what school will look like later this spring. If you have a child who turns 5 on or before Oct. 15, 2021 and you are considering sending them to school in the fall, please complete this form. Formal registration packets will be available on our website at a later date.
The information you provide is important for us to accurately plan for the number of classrooms, teachers and materials we will need in the fall. Please complete the form so we can contact you through email with updates and news about the 2021-2022 school year as the situation evolves and decisions are made. We will hold registration appointments at each school later in the Spring.
2021-2022 Pre-Registration Form
Superintendent Search Committee Announced
At the March 4th school board meeting, the Superintendent Interview Committee was selected from a pool of 53 applicants. The board thanks everyone who took the time to apply! All of the applicants were placed in categories (parents, students, staff, administration, community and school board) and chosen at random from each group to ensure a balance of representation, including subdivisions by phase level where appropriate. The 13 members selected to the committee are: Jen Adams, Laurie Alves, Patricia Brigham, Aiden Bristol, Cathy Ducey, Alicia Giftos, Amy Glidden, Amy Johnston, Leanne Kazilionis, Sue Ketch, Alison Marchese, Sarah Mullen, Julie Mueller.
The committee will undergo interview training with DDM, the search firm hired to support the superintendent search, on March 15th. The interviews with the board recommended candidates will be conducted on March 22nd and 23rd. The interview committee will then make recommendations on which candidates will advance to the next round of interviews with the full board.
Please reach out to the board if you have questions: boe@scarboroughschools.org.
FY22 Budget Update
This past Tuesday and Wednesday, March 9th and 10th, the school board participated in FY22 budget workshops with the district leadership team. The purpose of the workshops are for the School Board and community to get a detailed overview of what the budget drivers are for the coming year at a phase and department level with presentations by building and district leadership. The recorded meetings can be viewed here: March 9th and March 10th. The executive summary, detailing the key facts and figures for the FY22 proposed budget can be found here.
The next critical step in the budget development process will be the School Board and Town Council First Readings (dates below). The Town Council Finance Committee set their goals for First Reading this year and are as follows:
We fully intend to comply with the Town Council directive to adopt a budget that results in a 3% or lower Mill Rate impact to our taxpayers. As such, we advise that staff bring forward a lean budget that will provide a safe and compliant environment for our staff, students and the public.
Identify the impact of restoring deferred capital improvement projects.
Identify the impact of restoring deferred positions and other accommodations that were made to arrive at last year's approved budget.
Identify areas that were innovated to become more effective or efficient with this budget.
As always, we would remind the community to consider the First Reading as a starting point in our process. There is a lot of work to be done, questions to be asked, and decisions to be made between First and Second Reading to arrive at a final number which is presented at the polls. It’s also the time when we welcome and encourage community feedback, so please stay engaged throughout!
School staff and administrators have been diligently crafting the FY22 budget over the course of the last few months, planning for all options as our doors open in the fall. We look forward to the community seeing all of the hard work and thoughtful decisions that have been made thus far. Please tune in to the March 18th school board meeting at 7pm for the First Reading of the FY22 budget. As always, feedback is encouraged throughout the budget process. boe@scarboroughschool.org.
See below for other upcoming dates (subject to change).
Town Council Budget Presentation: March 31st
Town Council Public Hearing: April 7th
TC Finance Committee Review of school budget: April 14th
School Board Public Hearing: April 15th
Joint TC/SB Budget Workshop and TC Public Hearing: May 5th
School Board Second Reading: May 6th
Town Council Second Reading: May 19th
School Budget Referendum: June 8th
Students' Informational Writing on Display!
Learning About Circuits in STEM Class
Wentworth Students Display their State of Maine Projects
Balancing Online (Computer) and Offline Learning
Upcoming SPS Events - Mark Your Calendar!
- March 14 - Daylight Savings Time Begins
- March 18 - School Board Workshop/1st Reading of the FY22 School Budget
- March 31 - Town Council Budget Presentation
Fully Remote Preparedness Plans
Health & Safety
Please make sure you review the UPDATED Student Health Self Assessment questions EVERY DAY before sending your child off to school.
TOGETHER, we can make our schools as safe as possible!
Links to Our Schools
Services & Information
Spec. Services | Alison Marchese, amarchese@scarboroughschools.org
Food Services | Peter Esposito, pesposito@scarboroughschools.org
Athletics & Activities | Mike LeGage, mlegage@scarboroughschools.org
Curriculum I Monique Culbertson, mculbertson@scarboroughschools.org
Community Services | Todd Souza, tsouza@scarboroughmaine.org
Tech Support
For technology assistance with SPS student laptops, please send a message to techsupport@scarboroughschools.org and someone from Technology will be in touch to assist you.
Scarborough Schools
Website: www.scarboroughschools.org
Location: 259 U.S. Route 1, Scarborough, ME 04074, USA
Phone: (207) 730-4100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scarbmeschools/
Twitter: @scarbmeschools