BUCKFIELD – Residents of SAD 39 approved a $5,705,721 budget for the 2005 fiscal year, an increase of $21,570 – or 0.37 percent – over the current fiscal year.

The 56 voters at Tuesday’s meeting approved the final figure after the district had attempted to pass a plan with no increases, but board members said they were pleased that the budget committee and school staff were able to come up with a figure as low as it had.

“This year’s budget committee worked hard to recognize the needs of the taxpayer at a time when the district is being pinched without proper state support,” said Superintendent William Shuttleworth. “However, they still came up with a budget plan that meets the needs of all students throughout the district. They were all concerned with our kids.”

While not all articles at the budget meeting were passed unanimously, Shuttleworth said “a strong majority of the people at the meeting supported the work of the Finance Committee, the district’s staff and myself had done to keep the budget for next year as low as possible.”

To do this, several staff cuts were made, but he said the cuts were ones the district can live with because of the declining school population.

“No one likes to cut into the teaching staff, but when we are faced with the directive given, our administrative staff worked hard to recommend cuts that kept our progress towards excelling on the Maine Learning Results,” Shuttleworth said. “It was felt the cuts could be made successfully due to a decreasing school enrollment over the past 10 years.”

Shuttleworth said that even though the budget will increase slightly, the education assessments on the district towns of Buckfield, Hartford and Sumner will be reduced in the coming year.