TURNER — Fifty-one residents of Greene, Leeds and Turner took less than 40 minutes Tuesday night to endorse the revised budget proposed by the SAD 52 board.

The $23,112,515 spending package is $85,195 less than the original proposal that was rejected May 8.

Article 17 regarding local additional funds passed by written ballot, 47-4.

The article was for $458,859 to cover the state’s shortfall in its share of the Essential Programs and Services (EPS) funding model. It also included $993,722 for expenses not covered by EPS, such as advance placement courses, co- and extracurricular costs and excess special education funding required for out-of-district placements.

EPS is the minimum amount of money the district must raise in order to receive the full amount of state dollars. Since the state does not fully fund their share of the EPS model, schools can get a waiver if they also do not raise their full share.

A budget referendum will be held Tuesday, June 12, at polls in each town.

At the end of the meeting, resident Brenda Terrio asked Superintendent Henry Aliberti if at next year’s budget hearing he would provide a comparison of the volunteer hours given in the current school year and next year. Aliberti agreed to do so.

In a prior public hearing, Terrio had voiced strong opposition to the board’s decision to eliminate the volunteer coordinator positions.

After the meeting, Aliberti said he greatly appreciated the communities’ positive participation in the development of a second proposed budget and their affirmation of the Board of Directors’ adopted budget Tuesday.

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