FARMINGTON — Regional School Unit 9 directors have approved the process and timeline for developing the 2019-20 budget.

“A five-member school board budget committee will be formed,” Superintendent Tina Meserve said in a phone call following the Jan. 28 board meeting. “The committee will begin meeting Wednesday, Feb. 27.”

The initial committee meeting will be a presentation of educational programs from all seven schools, Meserve said. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. and will likely last the entire day.

“This meeting format will help us with increasing efficiencies,” she said. “If they are seeing the same financial trends over and over from these programs, they will be able to make more efficient decisions.”

The committee will meet weekly until the process is complete, Meserve said.

Budget committee meetings will be at 7 p.m. in The Forum at Mt. Blue Campus, unless otherwise noted. They are:

• Wednesday, March 6, location to be determined: special education, technology, and student supports presentations;

• Thursday, March 14, operations, transportation, central office presentations;

• Thursday, March 21, carry-over presentation and review of revisions requested by the committee; and

• Thursday, March 28, finalize the draft budget.

“These meetings will be a time for the committee to draft a budget the board can be comfortable with,” the superintendent said.

The budget will be presented to the school board Tuesday, April 2.

Meserve will present the proposed budget at a community forum Tuesday, April 9.

“The idea is that the board wants community input before the budget goes to a vote,” she added. “This will be a time for people to ask questions and raise concerns so they can be addressed before voting.”

On Tuesday, April 23 the board will review and adopt the final budget. The district budget meeting will be Tuesday, May 28, in the auditorium at Mt. Blue Campus. The budget referendum will be Tuesday, June 11, Meserve said.

dmenear@thefranklinjournal.com

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