GARDINER — A proposed $33.5 million School Administrative District 11 budget that prompted a student protest over cuts and would require more property taxes from residents in Gardiner, West Gardiner, Pittston and Randolph passed Tuesday with only a smattering of “no” votes.

The budget, which would require 6.1% more in property tax dollars, next goes to voters in all four district municipalities in a June 9 referendum question for validation.

On a sunny Tuesday evening, while the sports fields and courts surrounding Gardiner Area High School were full of students playing games and parents watching them, about 55 people met inside the gymnasium for just over 40 minutes to approve the 20 warrant articles before them.

The school board approved the budget last month, restoring two teaching positions that were to be cut in the initial budget proposal, increasing the budget jump over last year’s spending plan from 1.75% to 2.16%.

In April, about 100 Gardiner Area High School students walked out of their classes and marched to the school district’s central office to oppose the cuts of two staff members from the high school, an assistant principal and a history teacher. However those positions were not restored to the budget.

Each municipality’s share of the proposed budget, and its increase from the current budget, are:

∙Gardiner, $5.6 million, a $415,000, or 8.05%, increase.
∙Pittston, $3.3 million, a $158,000, or 5.11%, increase.
∙Randolph, $1.3 million, a $45,000, or 3.5%, increase.
∙West Gardiner, $4.8 million, a $249,000, or 5.44%, increase.

According to projections by Andrea Disch, business manager for the school district, here’s the impact on taxpayers in each of the four municipalities of the school budget alone:

The owner of a $200,000 home in Gardiner, now taxed at $5,260, would see a $206.14 increase in their property tax bill; in Pittston, the owner of a $200,000 home, currently paying $3,340 a year in taxes, would see an increase of $89.94; in Randolph, the owner of a $200,000 home now paying $2,760 in taxes would see an increase of $60.43; and in West Gardiner the owner of a $200,000 home, now taxed at $1,480, could see an increase of $74.38.

School board Chairwoman Becky Fles, of Gardiner, said in a budget message handed out at Tuesday’s hearing the district began the budget process with $210,035 less in state subsidy, largely due to a decrease in student enrollment. About 90 fewer students attend the district’s schools compared to last year.