DIXFIELD – The amount of state funding coming to SAD 21 is the biggest issue facing directors as the development the fiscal 2009 budget.

“What is the state going to do?” asked Superintendent Tom Ward on Tuesday afternoon.

That will help decide offerings in the 950-student district.

“One-to-one laptops and the lack of them continues to be a dilemma,” said Ward. “The Department of Education will not be funding them.”

Now, seventh- and eighth-graders and most sixth-graders have laptop computers, while the high school has only about 100 distributed through laptop carts.

Ward wants about 70 more laptop computers, at a cost of about $80,000.

That’s one of the items school directors will continue to grapple with as they develop the budget.

The board will meet again on March 10 and 24 to continue work on the budget.

In other matters Monday, Ward said Canton board member Carl Lueders was appointed to represent SAD 21 on the Region 9 School of Applied Technology board. With his appointment, the district has two representatives on the vocational school board. The second member is Wayne Thurston of Peru.