DIXFIELD – Twenty minutes was all it took Thursday for the 31 voters present at Dirigo High School to approve a $7.16 million SAD 21 school budget.
“It took longer to swear in the moderator and ballot clerks than it did to pass the budget,” said SAD 21 Superintendent Thomas Ward at the high school’s graduation night Friday.
After swearing in David Austin as moderator, and Nancy Carr and Martha Kelly as ballot clerks, Ward said that SAD 21 Chairwoman Barbara Chow welcomed the 31 voters and explained the budget process.
Ward said that she also pointed out that SAD 21 had to work with $30,000 less from the state due to declining student enrollments and a loss of state revenue.
An expected 10 percent health insurance cost increase actually came in at 19 percent or $77,000.
To compensate, directors were forced to eliminate from the budget all staff development, travel time and conferences; new audiovisual equipment; $5,000 from the athletics department; and pared money from the estimated legal fees account.
“I’m very pleased with the overall budget in spite of all that, though,” Ward said.
The vote on each of the budget warrant’s nine articles was 31-0.
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