Harrison Elementary School’s current enrollment is 107 students. If Waterford Memorial School’s 77 students attended HES, the building would still be under capacity. Nicole Carter/Advertiser Democrat

PARIS — School Board directors for Oxford Hills have asked Superintendent Heather Manchester to explore cost cutting measures ahead of the 2025-26 school year, including consolidation of elementary schools with low enrollment.

The directive was delivered during the school board’s business meeting Monday, after Maine School Administrative District 17 learned that funding from Maine Department of Education is set to drop by more than $1 million in the next fiscal year beginning July 1.

Across SAD 17’s eight sending towns, property valuations have increased by a total of $433 million. Applied to the state’s calculation for essential programs and services (EPS), higher real estate values mean an increase of $934,000 to the local taxpayer share.

DOE has also factored district enrollments, which have trended downward since the pandemic, in its formulas and determined its contribution to SAD 17’s EPS will drop by another $110,700.

In an economic environment where taxpayers are buckling under ever increasing municipal and Oxford County budgets, SAD 17’s shortfall could not come at a worse time.

The cost of operating the district’s facilities has gone up by 63% to $7.4 million over the last four years.

By comparison, spending on instruction has gone up by 2% during the same period, accounting for $18.4 million this school year. Some cuts have already been made to instruction in recent budgets as decreased enrollments made it possible to eliminate some teaching positions.

“Valuations are up, enrollments are down, and every year our outdated school buildings get more expensive to maintain,” said School Board Chair Troy Ripley in an email statement.

“We are looking at everything,” Veronica Poland, West Paris director and chair of SAD 17’s budget committee, told the board Monday. “We have asked Heather to look at the schools with lower enrollments to maximize our facilities, and find ways to keep the budget down. We have other (budget) increases that we don’t have control over.”

Manchester was tasked to do a cost analysis based on closing Waterford Memorial School and uniting students from Waterford and Harrison into Harrison Elementary School.

The two towns already share a hybrid consolidation, with students pre-K through second grade attending school in Waterford and  third through sixth grade in Harrison.

Fully merging the schools would mean that the principal and special ed and services staff would all be in the same building with all students on a daily basis. Transportation would also be more efficient as kids in the same household would be served by a single bus run rather than two.

Some positions could be eliminated, and the district would save more on facilities and utilities expenses.

During Monday night’s board meeting Manchester estimated that closing WMS could result in about $400,000 lower spending.

The Legion School in West Paris, where pre-K and kindergarten students from Paris and West Paris attend, is also under scrutiny. Closing that school would bring all students from the two towns together at Paris Elementary School.

Manchester’s projection analysis will be shared during SAD 17’s next board meeting, April 3.

Facilities and maintenance in Maine school districts have been subject to cost-cutting since the Great Recession 15 years ago.

Estimates to catch up on years of deferred maintenance in SAD 17’s eight elementary schools stands at about $15 million.

While administrators have been working on a comprehensive referendum bond to make upgrades and improvements, Manchester told the Advertiser Democrat that the project has been put on hold pending the decision to permanently close Agnes Gray Elementary School in West Paris and potentially close WMS.

The focus is now on maximizing savings to offset the projected $1 million DOE shortfall in the next budget as SAD 17 moves forward with planning on two new schools, both of which qualify for state funding.

A referendum to build a new Oxford Hills Middle School will go before voters later this year. A second referendum on building a new elementary school for Harrison, Norway and Waterford will be held by June of 2026.

Constructing two new schools would cost around $150 million, most of which would qualify for state funding. They would serve 1,000 students between pre-K and eighth grade, including those who receive special or day treatment services, or have individual education plans (IEPs).

If voters reject the building projects SAD 17’s fiscal future will likely be dominated by managing outdated and under capacity school buildings.