MINOT – School Superintendent Nina Schlikin told the School Committee on Tuesday that she questions whether a 2005-06 budget can be ready by March town meeting deadlines.

Officials in Augusta, she said, are not only a long way from agreeing on the total dollar amount of state aid for education for next year, they haven’t agreed on a new formula for how the money will be allocated.

“I don’t want to give you dummy numbers and look the fool later,” the School Union 29 leader said.

She pointed out that a budget set too low would mean the town could lose state money, and a budget set too high could do a number on the local tax rate.

“We can’t use the figures from last year as a predictive basis since the entire formula is changing. Do you suppose we can postpone action on the school budget? Can we ask for a second town meeting?” she asked.

Committee Chairman Colleen Quint said that while it’s difficult to prepare the budget every year, the fact that the state is still working on a new funding formula makes the merely difficult almost impossible.

Quint said she would like to meet with selectmen to explain the situation and to see what can be done.

Committee members agreed that, in the meantime, they should push the budget workshop schedule back a week. Under the revised schedule, Schlikin and Minot Consolidated School Principal Margaret Pitts will present a budget to the School Committee during the week of Jan. 10, with the expectation that its recommendations could then be taken to the Budget Committee and selectmen on Jan. 20 and 27.

Schlikin reminded the School Committee that as matters now stand, there are three areas of the budget that could see substantial increases: transportation, building maintenance and tuition for high school students.

The committee gave Pitts authorization to use her discretion in calling the Androscoggin County sheriff’s office for a drug-sniffing dog if she thought it was warranted.