FARMINGDALE — Board members in the Hallowell-based Regional School Unit 2 presented their draft budget to community members at Hall-Dale High School Tuesday evening.

Local taxpayers would be asked to pay about 3.4% more in the next fiscal year, up about $580,000, with rising costs driven by contractual salary and benefit increases and the district’s new participation in a special education program for four year olds.

Here are three takeaways from that meeting ahead of board and resident votes on the budget.

PRE-K PROGRAM

RSU 2 will join a cohort of about 100 districts across the state in providing special education services to pre-K students. The program, called Free Appropriate Public Education, or FAPE, provides therapeutic services to 4-year-old students.

RSU 2 spans 50 miles from Dresden to Monmouth, and district leaders decided children from Dresden — and the teachers themselves — would be best served by traveling to Hall-Dale Elementary School to participate in a centralized setting. Monmouth will operate its own FAPE program, too.

That requires the purchase of three student vans, which will cost the district about $165,000. Other costs will likely be incurred, too; the state will only pay for “allowable” expenses under the FAPE program, and district leaders anticipate this will only cover about 55% of the cost.

Next year, RSU 2 will also take on FAPE for 3-year-olds. That comes with additional costs, additional liability and additional specialization.

“We believe that early intervention is key for all children,” Superintendent Rick Amero said at the presentation. “The earlier we can work with these children, the more successful they’re going to be navigating through educational systems. At the same breath, we’re very concerned.”

SAVINGS

The district has paid off the bond used for the construction of Hall-Dale Elementary School in Hallowell two decades ago, eliminating a $532,000 cost for the district.

State funding only increased by about $40,000 this year, but would likely also increase by about $200,000 for essential education services, Finance Director Kelleen Longfellow said Tuesday, if a proposal to update the school funding formula at the state Legislature passes.

CAPITAL PROJECTS

The district plans to fund two major facility projects as part of this year’s budget. Those projects will not impact taxpayers this year — the board plans to pull from established reserve funds to pay the costs.

The larger of the two projects — between $500,000 and $600,000 — will replace the track at Hall-Dale Middle/High School, which was built in the 1960s and resurfaced in 2008. Without rebuilding the track, the school could lose the ability to host meets or other events.

“Those of you who have children in track programs know that that thing, hiding under the snow, it’s terrible,” Chris Myers Asch of Hallowell, a member on the RSU 2 board, said Tuesday. “Love Hall-Dale. The track is awful.”

Another approximately $75,000 will fund improvements to the Hall-Dale Elementary School playground. The Hall-Dale Parent-Teacher Organization plans to fundraise for the playground, too.

NEXT STEPS

The board will finalize the budget over the next month and plans to vote on a final proposal at its April 16 meeting.

Residents of Dresden, Hallowell, Farmingdale and Monmouth will have an opportunity to vote on the budget twice: first at a May 20 budget meeting at Monmouth Academy, where residents can change or approve articles, and then at a June 9 referendum.