PARIS – The proposal to consolidate school districts across the state topped concerns of about two dozen people who attended a districtwide budget forum at the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School Monday night.

It was the last of several budget forums held in each district towns as voters prepare to go to the polls on June 12 to act on SAD 17’s $35.4 million budget.

School Superintendent Mark Eastman said the state’s plan to consolidate school districts remains unconfirmed, but in each of three models the state has presented, SADs 17 and 39 are held up as models for their successful consolidation ventures, such as with adult education. Because of that, Eastman believes the districts will eventually be told to merge, if SAD 17 must merge with any district.

“We’re going to begin to analyze the impact,” Eastman told people at the forum. “The cost-sharing piece is the big one. It’s one of our major concerns as we go through this.”

The fiscal 2008 budget is based on SAD 17’s costs to provide educational programs and services in that district only.

Eastman said school officials were disappointed that the state did not come through with its promise to fully fund towns at 95 percent of the essential programs and services funding formula. Instead, it funded SAD 17 at 93 percent. The drop to 93 percent cost the district about $200,000 in anticipated funds, but the district was still able to pay for all-day kindergarten in its second year, add a gifted-and-talented program, expand the elementary foreign language program and more funding for high school special education services.

The budget also contains money for upgrading security across the school district.

Eastman said the district saw savings in lower than anticipated increases in health insurance costs, the end of a lease agreement for the use of the now-vacated Madison Street School and energy savings.

The overall budget increase is 4.42 percent and the increase in local assessments is 2.82 percent.