OXFORD — The Oxford Hills School District Board of Directors is set to act on the proposed $34.6 million budget Monday.
The vote will be part of the regular Board of Directors meeting in the school district’s central office meeting room in Oxford beginning at 7 p.m.
School Superintendent Rick Colpitts said the proposed budget of $34,650,792 is an increase of $427,670 or 1.25 percent over this fiscal year’s budget. The proposed amount would require an increase of 4.84 percent for local assessments.
“That’s the total local share,” Colpitts said. The amount is distributed to each town according to local valuations.
The proposed budget would require, in part, the reduction of a full-time high school and middle school position and a full-time secretary position, the loss of $10,000 in the transportation budget, a cut of $50,000 from the special education budget and a reduction in supplies at all schools.
The full-time job reductions mean that the equivalent of a full-time position would be eliminated under the proposed budget but not necessarily a full-time person, Colpitts said. It could be two half-time positions or any other combination.
“We’re not identifying the specific positions at this time,” Colpitts said of the proposed personnel cuts.
The two-part budget approval process includes voter approval of the $34.6 million budget at 7 p.m. on June 9 at the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School Forum. That meeting establishes the budget that goes to a referendum on June 14 as part of the townwide election ballot in each of the eight communities served by the Oxford Hills School District. Changes can only be made to the budget during the June 9 budget hearing and meeting.
The budget referendum question at the June 14 annual town election will be a yes or no question.
Additionally, voters will be asked in a separate referendum question on June 14 to approve a plan to bond a $1 million plus project to remove moisture and mold from the inside of exterior walls at the Otisfield Community School and ensure compliance with handicap accessibility laws in the Harrison, Waterford and Rowe elementary schools.
The Board of Directors approved the bond question for the revolving renovation loan projects at its meeting last week.
A public hearing for the revolving renovation bond will occur prior to the regularly scheduled board meeting at 6:30 p.m. June 6 in the presentation room at the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School. The hearing is simply for informational purposes and will not require a vote, Colpitts said .
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