DIXFIELD – SAD 21 board members continued slogging through a proposed fiscal 2008 budget earlier this week, then decided they needed one more meeting to get all the numbers right.

That meeting will be at 6 p.m., April 30, in the Dirigo High School library.

Superintendent Tom Ward said the meeting may well run on for hours so that by the end of the evening, a budget proposal will be ready for district voters to decide on May 29.

He said the district is trying to come in with a budget under $10 million. If directors do, that would mean a 1.5 percent increase over this year’s $9.8 million budget. They are trying to do it without eliminating any district staff.

At a meeting earlier in the month, the board eliminated a fifth-grade teacher, a second, as-yet undetermined elementary position, two educational technicians and a secretary in the central office. No one will lose their job, however, because of attrition or retirements.

The reduction in positions is largely a result of the declining student population, which is expected at around 1,100 when the next school year begins.

Ward said the board will try to cut another $72,000 from the budget when members meet on April 30.

Still unknown is the percentage of salary raises for staff and the amount of money the state will kick in. He said the salary increase figure will likely be known on Monday.

He said he will have figures available showing how the district would be impacted with 1 percent, 1.5 percent, and 2 percent increases in the overall school budget at Monday’s meeting.

Also at the upcoming meeting, Ward said the board will act on a three-year technology plan as presented by Nick Waugh, an elementary technology support aid. He said the aim is to assure that every child coming out of elementary school will have the same technology when they get to middle school, and that every middle school student will have the same technology when they get to high school.

The board will also meet in closed sessions for a student expulsion hearing and to discuss employee contracts and benefits.