DIXFIELD — A hearing on the proposed RSU 10 budget Thursday night quickly turned into a discussion about making major changes to the schools that some believed could save money and improve learning.

Deb Carver, a teacher in the district, wanted to know whether there is any serious discussion about having one high school to serve the nearly 900 students in grades nine to 12. The district has high schools in Buckfield, Dixfield and Rumford.

Superintendent Craig King said the district is building rich, and steps are being taken to try to reduce the costs of operating 11 buildings.

“Are we looking at something down the line?” Jennifer LeDuc asked.

Dixfield board member Bruce Ross said he’d like to see one regional high school, but added that such an action would take years.

“What can we do for the area now?” he asked.

Ross said when he was a student at Mountain Valley High School in Rumford, the school was packed, but now there’s a significant amount of space available.

“It would need renovations. We’re in a big area, so we decided to try to do what we could in each region,” he said.

King said the Buildings and Grounds Committee has virtually completed its study of all 11 buildings. The next step is for an architect to conduct the same work and come up with some recommendations.

“We will then pursue several options, take them to the board, then to the public. We can’t have a sacred cow,” he said.

Carver said she didn’t want an option, such as creating one high school in Rumford and one middle school in Dixfield, left out of the possible mix.

Another suggestion was to create one high school in the Rumford/Dixfield area and the second in Buckfield, with some of the students from the Canton area attending Buckfield instead of Dirigo because it’s closer.

Chris Carver wanted to know how binding an agreement with Dixfield is to keep Dirigo High School open.

When a suggestion arose a couple of years ago to combine Rumford and Dixfield high schools, Dixfield took steps to try to withdraw from the district. Once the district agreed to keep it open for at least 10 years, providing at least 200 students continued to attend there, the town’s withdrawal committee ended its effort.

Former board member Betty Barrett said the three regions of the district should have been together since the beginning in 2011.

In the meantime, King said a budget must be passed.

Although the proposed $36.2 million budget is $300,000 less than the current year’s, the tax liability for nearly all member towns will increase because the district received $1.1 million less in state aid. The board eliminated 44 full- and part-time positions and made other significant cuts.

Board member Lolisa Windover said if the proposed budget is not passed, deeper cuts will likely have to be made.

Karen Wilson, mother of a Rumford Elementary School student, wanted to know the impact of the school assessment increase on the tax rate.

King said business manager Mary Dailey will try to find out the impacts from each of the towns.

That information will likely be available when residents vote in a districtwide meeting at 6:30 p.m. June 3 at Dirigo High School in Dixfield.

The budget warrant is comprised of 15 articles. The final figure decided upon at the June 3 election will appear on the validation referendum ballot in each town June 10.

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