FARMINGTON — RSU 9 directors voted Tuesday to enter into a new lease agreement for a copier and four printers. The cost is $12,628.

The copy machine will go to the Mallett School and the printers will go to the middle school, Director of Curriculum Leanne Condon said.

Prior to the vote, director Keith Swett of Wilton asked about the budget crunch the district and other school systems around the state will face when Gov. Paul LePage issues a curtailment of funds.

Superintendent Mike Cormier said he didn’t know how much the district will lose but he knows it will lose some funding for education.

State revenues are $35 million short, and in addition the Maine Department of Health and Human Services is over budget by $100 million, Cormier said.

He has frozen all accounts and expenditures and officials will be looking at every account to see what money is available, he said.

The district was already short $60,000 in the beginning after the school board nixed a proposal to outsource custodial services, he said.

Only expenses necessary for instruction are being approved, he said.

The printers are directly related to students’ education, he said. Those printers are used by students.

The copier is also a necessity, he said.

In another matter, Cormier said staff from the University of Maine at Farmington, including President Kathryn A. Foster, visited Mt. Blue High School on Dec. 6 to meet with seniors to discuss a new initiative.

UMF also provided lunch for seniors.

UMF is offering free rooms on campus for two semesters to Mt. Blue seniors who attend the university next year, Cormier said.

If seniors go elsewhere to college and then decide to come back during the first year, UMF will still honor the offer, he said.

“It is an incredibly generous offer,” Cormier said. “These opportunities don’t come by very often.”

Students who want to go will get a campus experience, he said.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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