NORTH ANSON — Voters in the towns of Regional School Unit 74 are set to go to the polls Tuesday to validate the $10 million school budget for the coming year.
Polls will be open in Anson, Embden, New Portland and Solon from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.
The budget of $10,083,505 was given approval by district voters at the April 27 budget meeting, said Superintendent Lyford Beverage. The new spending package is up $116,461 over the current budget year approved by voters last May with only Embden voters rejecting the budget.
Beverage said the budget meeting in April was quiet.
“It went pretty smooth, without any real controversy,” Beverage said by phone Monday. “Obviously there was some concern about the size of the budget, but every article passed as written and we went home.”
Spending lines in the new budget include:
• $3,589,028 for regular instruction.
• $1,587,117 for special education.
• $362,978 for system administration.
• $548,716 for school administration.
• $747,235 for transportation and buses.
Beverage said the district is taking delivery of two new school buses in the coming year, which contributed to the modest increase in the overall budget. He said salaries and health insurance premiums also are up, which is routine.
Beverage added that the district is employing a new English language arts curriculum in kindergarten through grade 8 and new computers to round out the increases in spending this coming budget year, which begins July 1.
He said the language arts teacher, Jean Butler, who is principal for all three of the district’s K-5 elementary schools, is current on the new material. Some of the language arts material they are replacing is 16 or 17 years old and needs to be updated.
Doug Harlow — 612-2367
Twitter:@Doug_Harlow
Send questions/comments to the editors.
