RUMFORD — Regional School District 10 board of directors is presenting a proposed budget of just over $45.04 million, which eliminates 19 positions.

It represents a $2.2 million increase, or 4.9%, from the nearly $43 million approved for 2025-26.

The board of directors voted 10-1 to send the proposal to voters, following a 3 1/2-hour meeting April 13 at Mountain Valley High School.

Of the 19 positions, 12 are vacant positions, upcoming retires or those planning to leave. There are 430 employees in the district, which includes Rumford, Mexico, Roxbury, Hanover, Buckfield, Hartford and Sumner.

“None of us wants to make these cuts,” Chairman Chad Culleton, of Hartford, said. “This is just a really bad budget cycle year for us. None of these are easy.”

Board member Kristen Chapman, of Sumner, said, “We’ve cut a bunch of positions. … As much as I want to support this, people have lost their jobs, potentially.”

Superintendent Deb Alden said March 9 that the proposed budget initially reflected an increase of about 22%, due in part to salary and medical insurance hikes, before she proposed $1.1 million in cuts to bring it down to a 16% increase.

From there, she said, the administrative team went to work on many other proposed reductions.

“We put all kinds of reductions on sheets,” Alden said. “Nothing that we liked doing. We were asked by the school board to do a job and we did the job.”

At the April 13 meeting, Mountain Valley High School Principal Tom Danylik said, “None of this makes any school in this district better. None of it. You tasked us with a really hard job. When we do that, we have to think outside the box and think what reductions can we make that I think, as the principal of this building, that we can still offer the same services to the kids.”

As board members when through a lengthy list of administration team recommendations, deciding what to agree to cut or put back into the budget, Business Manager Leah Kaulback provided the board with updated visual graphs on a large monitor as items were put back into the budget.

After the board completed the reduction list, the budget increase was 6.4%, a figure Culleton and Alden agreed would not be approved by voters.

Asked how much they would need to cut to get the increase under 6%, Kaulback said $64,000.

Vice Chairman Jennifer Leduc, of Rumford, suggested cutting $30,000 from the skid steer account for snow removal, $35,000 from the Mountain Valley athletics account, and $35,000 from what was budgeted for electricity.

“I do strongly feel that we can have an energy audit and we can negotiate a better rate at the new school,” Leduc said, referring to the Mountain Valley Community School in Mexico. “We do not have to pay the highest rate that CMP offers. We do not have to be paying the standard rate and we should not be. And the thermostats should all be locked and put on a program. That should be done yesterday.”

In addition, Chapman recommended cutting $10,000 from the advertising account in the Central Office.

“I think that’s a reasonable suggestion,” Culleton said.

Chapman then proposed reopening discussion on the action already taken to cut two teachers at the Mountain Valley Community School based on class sizes for fiscal year 2027. Her motion was to cut a third teacher. The board voted to approve the motion.

The proposed assessments to the towns are: Buckfield, 6% increase or $122,986; Hanover, 8.7% increase or $51,946; Hartford, 12.9% increase or $216,289; Mexico, 7% increase or $117,695; Roxbury, 5.8% decrease or $67,394; Rumford, 3.5% increase or $245,883; and Sumner, 10.9% increase or $114,939.

The cuts included:

∙The high school Alpine/Nordic ski program for FY27.
∙One of three social workers at Mountain Valley Community School.
∙One of three school guidance counselors at Mountain Valley Community School.
∙An office secretary at Mountain Valley Community School.
∙A principal position at Mountain Valley Community School.
∙A guidance counselor at Hartford-Sumner Elementary School.
∙One of two Extended Learning Opportunities coordinators.
∙Two teachers at Hartford-Sumner Elementary School based on class sizes in FY27.
∙Two special education educational technicians I’s.
∙A general educational technician III at Mountain Valley Community School.
∙A library educational technician at Mountain Valley Community School.

Voting in favor of the budget were: Buckfield Directors Erin Hinkley and Allison Long; Hartford Director Chad Culleton; Mexico Directors Veronica Child and Peter DeFilipp; Roxbury Director Jonathan Ferreira; and Rumford Directors Darcy Klein, Daniel Hodge, Ed Bulger and Jennifer LeDuc.

Director Doug Stone, of Mexico, voted against, and Sumner Director Kristen Chapman abstained.

The Hanover director’s position is vacant.

Alden said the board voted to hire Diana Charest, the assistant special education director, as the director of Special Services for FY27. Money for the position was already included in the proposed budget.

The budget validation meeting will take place Wednesday, May 27, at 6:30 p.m. in the Muskie Auditorium at Mountain Valley High School, 799 Hancock St., Rumford.⋅