OXFORD – Superintendent Mark Eastman has asked the SAD 17 directors to be forward-thinking in addressing budget issues looming in the district’s future.

“We definitely have to think differently about our school system. We need to expand our thinking,” he told directors at their Tuesday night meeting.

Eastman said the “new realities” of education in Maine are that school funding is a big issue and it is possible that the resources districts have always counted on simply won’t be available in the future.

Eastman said in his opinion Essential Programs and Services state money was not designed to support small community schools even when it is fully funded. And the school budget will continue to see a shortfall for the foreseeable future.

Eastman said the state’s goal of 55 percent funding for EPS will not be met in the next three to five years, and in fact, payments may be further reduced.

In 2004 voters approved a referendum question that requires the state to pick up 55 percent of the cost of kindergarten through grade 12 education. Under the governor’s budget, the amount of EPS funds calls for funding at just 51 percent and that figure could drop to 48 percent by 2011, according to information from the Maine School Management Association.

It is also clear, Eastman said, that the local economy will not support the shift from state to local funding.

“The concern is how will it impact instruction? We believe we have to have creative strategies,” said Eastman, who said the district will have to take advantage of grants.

Eastman said directors also must look at how to handle additional class size without closing schools.

“Without changes in the way we do things, we will not have the resources,” he said.

Eastman said directors should begin thinking about new ways the district can address the changes in education being brought about by economics and be prepared to share ideas with him at a future meeting.

“I think it’s imperative we start thinking about these issues,” he said.