REGION — Regional School Unit 9 [RSU 9] will be holding the budget referendum vote on Tuesday, June 13. The ten towns that will be voting on the budget referendum are Chesterville, Farmington, Industry, New Sharon, New Vineyard, Starks, Temple, Vienna, Weld, and Wilton.

The overall budget for the district’s 2023 – 2024 school year, which was presented and voted on in a district budget hearing held on Tuesday, May 23, in the Bjorn Auditorium at Mt. Blue High School, was finalized at $41,710,668.

RSU 9 Chairperson Carol Coles described the budget as a “frugal one” in her opening remarks at the budget hearing on May 23.

“We know the costs are up,” she stated. “We recognize this budget is an increase over prior years. As with everything, balancing wants and needs is as hard at the district level as it is in our homes. And we thank you for taking the time to come tonight. We welcome your views, your ideas, and your input.”

The voting hours and locations in each town for the June 13 referendum vote are as follows:

• Chesterville: 2 – 8 p.m. at the Town Office [409 Dutch Gap Road]

• Farmington: 7 a.m. – 8 p.m. at the Community Center [127 Middle Street]

• Industry: 12 – 7:00 p.m. at the Town Hall [1033 Industry Road]

• New Sharon: 12:00 p.m. – 7 p.m. at the Town Office [11 School Lane]

• New Vineyard: 3 – 7 p.m. at the Community Hall [20 Lake Street]

• Starks: 12 – 8 p.m. at the Community Center [57 Anson Road]

• Temple: 12 – 8 p.m. at the Town Hall [258 Temple Road]

• Vienna: 2 – 8 p.m. at the Community Room [16 Kimball Pond Road]

• Weld: 4 – 8 p.m. at the Town Office in the Multipurpose Room [23 Mill Street]

• Wilton: 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. at the Town Office [158 Weld Road]

The budget has been seen in many different forms over the past few months, with a rough version presented to the public on Wednesday, April 5, with the board reviewing and adopting the final budget on Tuesday, April 25.

At the district hearing on May 23, one audience member questioned the budget and the incremental increases that have been seen over the years.

“This is a $41 million budget,” the audience member stated. “So, in your experience, Mr. Superintendent, or anybody, if we sat back to a long view on the cost of public education, why are we seeing these costs continue to increase? And where are we headed?”

For context, the previous budget that was voted upon last year was $39.99 million and this year’s budget is seeing a 4.30% increase. This is the sharpest increase that has been seen in recent memory, as the budget increases in previous years had not gone above 3%.

The 2020-2021 budget saw a 2.86% increase with a 1.76% increase the following year [2021-2022] and a 2.91% increase last year [2022-2023].

“I have grave concerns about public education and the cost, I just need to share that,” Superintendent Chris Elkington commented. “You’re right. I’m not sure what the number was seven, eight years ago, but it is getting more expensive to supply high quality individualized education.”

He continued, “I think we’re going to have to look and see how we do things and see if we can do them differently in some way. But I would say that probably the biggest change in the district is that our salaries and benefits have increased to comparable people around us.

“I think that’s part of the reason why you’re seeing the increase, because seven, eight years ago, even five, six years ago, we weren’t even close to people around us.”

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