DIXFIELD — The Regional School Unit 56 board of directors voted unanimously April 28 for a $16 million budget for 2026-27.

It is 5.39%, or $817,991 more than this fiscal year’s $15 million.

A districtwide hearing and initial vote by the public is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on May 26 at the Dirigo High School, 145 Weld St. A vote to validate the budget is set for June 9 at polling places in Canton, Carthage, Dixfield and Peru.

Canton’s proposed assessment for the coming fiscal year is down $17,388.43, or 1.4%, from 2025-26; Carthage’s is up $9,421.49, or 1%; Dixfield’s is up $123,892.49, or 5%; and Peru’s is up $153,573.28, or 8.3%.

Prior to the vote, some amounts were changed.

Superintendent Pam Doyen said that since the April 14 meeting, the district has received an additional $54,080 from the Maine Department of Education in general purpose aid for local schools. The initiative provides one-time funding to help stabilize budgets in districts with a high proportion of economically disadvantaged students.

And the administrative team lobbied to add a network manager/IT specialist for $98,000.

To accommodate the IT specialist, $93,194 in cuts was recommended, including $36,000 for a social worker at Dirigo Elementary School in Peru, $10,000 in legal fees, and $10,000 from course reimbursement.

The district hopes the new technology position will decrease outage time, provide more frequent school/community communication, improve instructional support and live-streaming events/activities.

“We said this from the beginning, there’s very little in this budget to cut,” Doyen said. “And I would say this position, in my mind, in looking at what we have and what we’re able to monitor on our laptops because we are providing devices to every child.”

One director spoke against cutting the social worker position, which Dirigo Elementary School Principal Charlie Swan said he would favor if it meant adding the IT specialist, according to Doyen.

“We would love to have both, but in circumstances where you can’t have both, we have to prioritize what we believe is in the best interest of the district,” Doyen said “If I could have it all, I would have a full-time employed social worker, and the second one at the elementary school. We don’t have the funds to do that. Maybe next year we could add something else in.”

Board member Bruce Ross, of Dixfield, said another person in IT will help keep things up-to-date.

“If we’ve got these devices, we’ve got to support the technology,” Ross said.

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