POLAND — Regional School Unit 16 directors voted Wednesday night to table approval of the 2025 budget until July 8 to see if cuts in personnel can be excluded from the $28.8 million revised budget.

Directors took that route after listening to several school district employees voice objections at losing a nurse, technology coach and making the librarian at Minot Consolidated School a half-time position.

Over 50 people attended, most of them employed by the district.

The budget will be reviewed again by the A-team, an ensemble of school and central office administrators, to see if saving jobs is possible while still adhering to keeping property tax increases to under $200 per $100,000 property valuation.

The initial $29.3 million budget voted down June 11 had property tax increases of $202 in Mechanic Falls, $171 in Minot and $248 in Poland.

The revised $28.9 million budget lessened the property tax increases to $157 in Mechanic Falls, $129 in Minot and $190 in Poland.

If directors approve the budget July 8, a new date for the district budget vote will change. However, the validation referendum will come before voters in the three towns July 30, still in keeping with getting municipal tax bills out on time.