PARIS – Voters from SAD 17 towns will be asked to approve a $35.8 million budget at a meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 5, at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School.

“This whole process represents a significant change,” Superintendent Mark Eastman said. “This new approach actually starts with town meeting style where the warrant is approved. The second stage is they go to the polls. They have two opportunities to approve it, rather than one.”

The second stage, on June 10, will be the vote to ratify the town meeting results. Voters in each town will be asked to approve the district budget that was adopted June 5 at their individual town polling places.

“The validation is at the polls,” Eastman said. The ballot will pose a single yes or no question. There will be no mention of what the budget amount is or what is contained in the budget.

“They’re used to going (to the polls) and seeing a number of warrant articles,” Eastman said. “This is a very prescribed process. It’s not a process we have any flexibility with.”

On Thursday, voters will act on the 13-article budget warrant. The first six articles will authorize specific expenditures – such as $19.8 million to pay for instructional support and $2.4 million for transportation – adding up to the total $35.8 million school budget.

Articles seven through nine will raise the funds for the proposed school budget by municipality. A total of $13.7 million must be raised by the eight towns according to their individual assessments, in order to receive a $33.8 million state subsidy.

In a written ballot, voters will be asked to approve the sum of $999,863, which exceeds the state’s Essential Programs and Services allocation by $302,585. The Board of Directors made this recommendation citing the increased cost of heating oil, electricity and diesel fuel of $713,559 that was not figured in the state’s funding model.

School Business Manager Cathy Fanjoy said the district has not secured a fuel price that meets the district’s budget for the coming year. “We are monitoring the market at least once a day,” she said.

Voters will also be asked to appropriate $536,512 for adult education and to raise $208,213 as the local share.

The final article asks voters for approval of the Maine Vocational Region 11 operating budget for fiscal 2009 in the amount of $3.7 million.