FARMINGTON – The budget for the upcoming school year was the focus of discussion for the SAD 9 board Tuesday evening.

Directors spent much of the meeting deliberating on the budget, which they hope to have ready for presentation to voters by the end the next regular meeting Tuesday, May 8.

Deliberations opened with a motion by Robert Flick of Farmington to add $16,000 to the budget to fund outside accreditation for Mount Blue High School by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

Flick felt accreditation by such a group would benefit Mt. Blue and have a positive effect on the staff and students.

Principal Joe Moore agreed. “It tends to draw a staff inward,” he said, referring to the accreditation process. “It builds teamwork.”

Neil Stinneford of Weld, citing all of the work currently being devoted to Maine Learning Results and No Child Left Behind Act, worried about the workload on the high school’s staff. “I don’t know why we would add another burden on the staff at this time,” he said.

Moore echoed Stinneford’s concern, saying, “I think staff support would be less than 50-50.”

The board voted down the motion, but many directors were open to revisiting the topic for future budgets.

The board also defeated a motion to reduce the proposed contingency fund by $10,000, but carried a motion to cut the proposed advertising budget by $10,000.

Earlier in the evening, Ray Therrion made a presentation to the board on behalf of the Adult Education portion of the budget. Therrion, requesting increased funding, highlighted that state funding for adult education has been slashed by $41,000. The adult education program has, however, generated $72,000 in revenue this year, up from $28,000 five years ago. Superintendent Mike Cormier voiced his admiration for Therrion and the adult education program, saying, “It is a safety net for the adults (in the community).”

Paul Brown also presented for Community Education, requesting the addition of one course, citing increased requests for specialized classes by Mount Blue High School. “The high school calls frequently for courses we don’t normally run,” he said. The addition of the course would cost approximately $900.

In other business, the board voted to allow the superintendent to negotiate with PDT Architects. PDT had been selected to design the upcoming Mount Blue High School/Foster Regional Applied Technology Center renovation project.

The SAD 9 board met at 7 p.m. in the Mt. Blue High School library.