DIXFIELD — A committee tasked with proposing short- and long-term school building changes in RSU 10 will be identified at the school board meeting March 26.
It will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Hartford-Sumner Elementary School.
When the board declined to approve a feasibility study for combining Mountain Valley and Dirigo high schools and reconfigure other schools in Rumford and Dixfield at Monday’s meeting, Superintendent Tom Ward said some significant reductions must be made to the operating budget.
He said the operating budget could go up to $37 million from the current $34.1 million. He said he will recommend a committee composed of board members, students, staff, administration and community members from each of the three regions.
“We want input from all regions,” he said.
He said he expected the strong opposition his merging proposal received from the 600 or so people who attended the March 12 meeting.
“But we needed to put it out for discussion,” he said. “On the positive side, support for the RSU students is very strong.”
Board members suggested that other options may be available for consideration. Those may appear as the 2012-13 budget building process continues and some major changes may be made.
At the March 26 meeting, the proposed budgets will be presented and on April 9, the list of proposed cuts will be presented and a budget target identified, he said. The impact of various budget proposals on member towns will also be shown.
An increase in the budget has been expected, he said previously, because the total budget has not changed in the past three school years. The issue is how much of an increase will residents experience.
The district offered a retirement incentive to professional staff who meet certain age and longevity requirements. This is the second time in three years.
He said several longtime staff members have indicated their intention to retire at the end of the school year. He also said he is expecting at least two more within a few weeks.
RSU 10 has 11 member towns: Rumford, Mexico, Byron, Roxbury, Dixfield, Canton, Carthage, Peru, Hartford, Sumner and Buckfield. Hanover pays tuition for its students to attend RSU 10 schools.
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