WALES – The Regional School Unit 4 board announced Wednesday that the district is expected to lose $423,000 from the state which will significantly impact taxpayers.

The board has been reviewing the 2016-17 budget line by line to reduce the tax burden while remaining committed to the curriculum and the students’ success, board Chairman Bob English said.

Superintendent Jim Hodgkin presented three key line items he thinks should be added: $65,000 for staff and a dean of students at Carrie Ricker and Sabattus Primary schools to assist the children and staff; and $20,000 for an updated math curriculum geared toward grades four, five and six; and $30,000 for a new school bus, which was cut from the budget last year.

These three items, among others, would increase  the budget from $18.56 million to $18.85 million, or 1.56 percent more than in 2015-16.

Other items at issue included an educational technician position for special education at Carrie Ricker School for $35,000 and an architect to address the aging infrastructure of the schools in the district for $30,000. These additional articles would increase the budget to $18.96 million, a 2.17 percent increase over this fiscal year, which ends June 30.

The board agreed to discuss the financial impact of these items in more detail at the next meeting, as well as an additional $11,000 for the math curriculum.

In other news, Judy Rizk, world language teacher at Oak Hill High, discussed the significance of keeping Latin and French as the two core curriculum languages. Latin teaches the fundamentals of vocabulary and serves as a basis for other languages, and French is spoken more worldwide than any other language, she said.

Board member Nancy Provost and English said Spanish would be more beneficial for the students in today’s world.

Hodgkin said it’s not cost effective to add a third language to the curriculum considering the current budget nor would it be lucrative to the students to transition from a current language to another one.

The board decided to keep Latin and French as the standards for 2016-17.

Board members encouraged district residents from Litchfield, Sabattus and Wales to give their input at the next two board meetings at 6:30 p.m. April 13 and 17 at Oak Hill High School.

Hodgkin will attend selectmen meetings at the three towns in the coming weeks to explain the school budget in more detail.