DIXFIELD – Residents in SAD 21 towns of Canton, Carthage and Dixfield can expect a 5.6 percent overall increase from the proposed 2004-05 school budget of $7.16 million.

Declining enrollments, less money from the state, a hefty health insurance jump and the Legislature’s inaction all factored into the budget, said Superintendent Thomas Ward.

At Monday night’s School Board meeting, directors approved the $7,163,925 budget, which is $379,500 more than last year’s budget of $6,784,425.

Enrollment dropped from 785 in 2002-03 to 762 this school year, and it’s projected to steadily decline, meaning less state aid.

The district gets reimbursed an average of $4,816 per student for grades K-12 from the state.

But the major reason behind the 5.6 percent increase is that SAD 21 received $130,000 less from the state this year.

Another $64,000 was lost when the Legislature failed to establish a property tax relief plan, Ward said Tuesday afternoon.

Then, more bad news arrived last Friday.

An expected 10 percent health insurance cost increase actually came in at 19 percent or $77,000, he said.

To compensate for the losses and the insurance increase, Ward said the board eliminated from the budget all staff development, travel time and conferences, and new audiovisual equipment.

Directors also hacked $5,000 from the athletics department budget and pared money from the estimated legal fees account.

“This new budget is a less-than-bare-bones’ budget, but I feel we can limp through for one year. But we can’t keep doing this, so that’s why I’m really looking forward to the merger. The addition of Peru students will really help us,” Ward said.

Earlier this year, voters in Peru and SAD 21 overwhelmingly approved merging the town of Peru and Peru School with SAD 21.

“But this proposed budget does not reflect that merger,” Ward said.

The new, merged district’s School Board – which meets for the first time on Tuesday, May 18 – is tasked with drafting its own separate budget for the 2005-06 school year. That is the year the merger goes into effect.

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