LIVERMORE FALLS — The RSU 73 board Thursday received copies of the proposed 2013-14 budget, which is nearly $55,000 less than this fiscal year.

“The school department is working hard to respond to the economy,” Superintendent Robert Wall said Friday afternoon.

The draft budget of $18,535,879 reflects savings from having one Spruce Mountain High School campus this fall, instead of two. Currently, high school students are housed in Jay and Livermore Falls, but all of them will be in Jay when the new school year begins.

Wall said the budget shows just the expenditures. Revenues won’t be known until the state determines the amount of General Purpose Aid it will grant RSU 73, as well as the percentage of teacher retirement the district must pay. He said he may receive a preliminary state aid figure next week.

The proposed budget includes 32 new high school courses that will be offered next year. Wall said no additional staff will be needed for the new offerings.

He said he will provide many more details on the budget when the board begins its deliberations at 6 p.m. Feb. 25 at the Spruce Mountain Middle School cafeteria in Jay. Other budget meetings are at 6 p.m. Feb. 26 at Livermore Elementary School and 6 p.m. March 4 at Spruce Mountain High School in Livermore Falls.

The board is expected to adopt a budget at its March 14 meeting. Residents will vote on it March 26 at the middle school. On April 23, residents of Jay, Livermore and Livermore Falls will vote at their respective polling places on the amount approved March 26.

Also at Thursday’s meeting, the board approved a three-year contract for the district’s seven administrators. The agreement, which ends June 30, 2016, includes salary hikes of 1.5 percent per year, and a requirement that they pay 20 percent of the cost of health insurance premiums.

In another labor-related matter, other district personnel received one-year contracts with a 1.5 percent pay raise and 1 percent hike in health insurance payments.