PARIS — As the SAD 17 Budget Committee continues its work to develop a Fiscal 2019 school budget, residents will get their first view of the document when community budget hearings get under way next week in the eight school district towns.

Superintendent Rick Colpitts unveiled his proposed $40,046, 613 Fiscal 2019 budget at April 2 Board of Directors meeting and reviewed it with boards of selectmen at a meeting on April 3.

The proposed budget shows a .39 or $157,166 decrease over the Fiscal 2018 $40,203,780 but does not include the state subsidy for the proposed $$3,653,444 Fiscal 2019 MVR 11 (Maine Vocational Regional 11)  budget this year due to a change in the funding formula for Career and Technical Education.

The subsidy will go directly to the MVR 11. Only the proposed expenses that exceed the subsidy – $115,095 – are included in the SAD 17 budget.

Details of the updated superintendent’s budget, which is still being refined, will be made available at the community forums. School officials hope that funding for grades 3-6 interventionists will be included in the final budget.

The following schedule has been released for the community-wide budget sessions.

• Norway and Paris residents on April 23 at the Paris Elementary School.
• Otisfield and Oxford residents will meet on April 24 at the Oxford Elementary School.
• Hebron and West Paris residents will meet on April 25 at the Hebron Elementary School.
• Harrison and Waterford residents will meet April 26 at the Waterford Memorial School.

All meetings start at 6  p.m. and are open to the community at large.

Comments and questions will be gathered from those forums and become part of the Budget Committee’s deliberations in preparing its proposed budget will go to the full board for a vote on May 7.

Following the community-wide meetings, the Budget Committee will meet on May 2 to finalize its budget.

The entire Board of Directors is expected to adopt the budget at its May 7 meeting.

Voters in the eight district towns will then meet at the annual District budget hearing/meeting on June 7 at 7 p.m. in the Forum at the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School to approve the line item budget. Then they will validate the budget during the referendum vote at each of the town’s voting polls on June 12.

ldixon@sunmediagroup.net

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