SALEM TOWNSHIP – School board directors decided Thursday night to double their efforts to finalize the coming year’s budget by the end of May.

At their meeting at Mt. Abram High School, they agreed to meet with Superintendent Brenda Stevens on Tuesdays and Thursdays until the 2013-14 spending plan is ready for a public hearing in May and a vote in June. Planning must begin, although the district has not received subsidy amounts, which indicate how deeply they may have to cut into the budget for staffing and programs.

Currently, Kingfield expects 13 kindergarten students, and Stratton has enrolled three. Phillips has 15 kindergartners and Strong has 16. Strong kindergarten teacher Christi Mitman said more than 18 students in a kindergarten class reduces the quality of their education, and the district’s youngest age group needs help that older children might not.

Teachers Association representative Sally Bean, who teaches art and cooking, said cuts to the supply budget have been difficult but manageable.

“You’re all doing your best to keep the budget as low as possible for your communities,” she said to directors. “The curtailments (in state education funding)  mean that we have to deal with things we haven’t planned for.”

Because curtailments have eliminated much of the backup staffing resources, classroom teachers are adding non-instructional duties. The problem, Bean and other teachers agreed, is that much of their planning work and communication with parents can’t happen while they are supervising a study hall. Although most teachers can do some of that work before and after school, other tasks, such as providing extra help in a subject area, can be done only during school hours, teachers told the directors.

Strong Elementary School teacher Mary Jane Martin said she has been teaching for more than 30 years, and that daily preparation time for her classes is a necessity. She also noted that, although the board would like to restore funding for a full-time principal in each school, students’ education should be a priority.

“I would not want to see principals come back full time if we have to cut programs for kids,” she said.

With overall student enrollment dropping, the area’s population aging, and the job market and tax base shrinking, the district faces difficult choices, officials have previously said.

Kingfield Elementary School teacher Kathy Houston said she spoke to the board not only as a teacher, but also as a parent and community member.

Keeping the community elementary schools open was essential, but teachers must find ways to increase efficiencies. Continued population and age group shifts will require teachers to be able to move when and where they are needed, and increasing the teacher-student ratio is an option, she said.

“Do we need one class per grade, or do we need multiage grouping?” she asked. “A classroom of 10 or 12 is too small.”

Adult education program instructor Kirsten Brown Burbank updated the board on the steady and significant increase in the numbers of recent graduates and older adults who seek help to plan their career paths. Last spring, the directors considered merging Adult Education program with Farmington-based Mt. Blue Regional School District but chose to reduce her hours instead.

Burbank suggested that the board consider four options for 2013-14. The Adult Education program could be subcontracted to Mt. Blue Regional School District or eliminated entirely. If they chose to keep her as the director, they could choose to continue the 20-hour workweek or restore the 30-hour position. Extra hours would allow her to manage greater demands for Career Pathways planning and hours of data tabulation required to receive Maine Department of Education subsidies.

The good news, she said, is that both interest and access to post-secondary education has boomed.

“Our adults are succeeding tremendously,” she said.

In 2005, only 21 percent of graduating students were planning post-secondary education. Because the adult education program can “bring college to the people,” she said, 82 percent of the graduating students have plans for higher education.

“The numbers have quadrupled since 2005,” she said.

Instructor Steve Mitman, who supervises and coordinates SAD 58 student enrollment in 16 programs at Foster Technology Center, said 52 students have applied for classes on the Mt. Blue High School campus. The doubling of enrollments has come from the change in the economy.

“They are wanting to begin their career education before they get their diploma,” he said.