PARIS — Voters passed a $50.43 million budget for Maine School Administrative District 17 on Tuesday, the third attempt to get approval.

The unofficial tally from the eight towns is 1,175 to 865, according to the superintendent’s office Wednesday.

The 2024-25 budget passed in six towns: Norway, 348-112; Paris, 271-190; Oxford, 143-137; Otisfield, 116-65; Waterford, 75-40; and Hebron, 66-17.

The budget failed passage in Harrison, 108-192, and in West Paris, 48-112.

Since, June, the budget was cut by $857,000, plus $2 million in capital investments.

“This budget supports the work of meeting the goals outlined in our Strategic Plan, such as decreasing chronic absenteeism and improving academic achievement, and will allow us to move forward with much needed updates to school safety,” Superintendent Heather Manchester said Tuesday night. “Thank you to all of the voters who supported our students, staff, and schools in this referendum.”

“Voters of the Oxford Hills have signaled strong support for students and educators,” Troy Ripley of Paris, chairperson of board of directors, said. “The board appreciates the participation in our process and hard work of our school leaders.”

The budget does not resolve upcoming decisions about school repairs, construction and elementary school consolidation.

The process has been complicated by uncertainty about the future of Agnes Gray Elementary School in West Paris, which was declared in February to be unsafe for use and was immediately closed due to roofing, plumbing, sanitation, building access, fire suppression and other issues. It, along with Oxford Hills Middle School in Paris, is on Maine Department of Education’s priority list for replacement.

However, Maine DOE policies and funding support target a model of school consolidation, which could see elementary schools in West Paris, Norway, Harrison and Waterford closed in favor of a larger, centrally located school serving those students from prekindergarten through fifth grade.

The two-story Agnes Gray school, built in the late 1800s, served grades 1 to 6. The majority of them attend Paris Elementary School, although to avoid over crowding classes have been reorganized so the Paris school no longer receives students in day treatment programs. All students requiring a higher level of special education are now enrolled at Guy E. Rowe Elementary School on Main Street in Norway.

Selectmen from West Paris and Paris are holding a joint meeting and forum Friday at 6 p.m. at the Paris Fire Station on Western Avenue where their legal counsels will present declarations about possible legal action against the district for closing Agnes Gray school.

“We have some hard decisions to make about the future of our local schools,” Ripley said. “These decisions will be made together, through an open and transparent process that gives Oxford Hills residents the final word on school repairs, consolidation, and construction decisions.”