LIVERMORE FALLS — The budget process for Regional School Unit 73 will be painful, Superintendent Kenneth Healey told directors Thursday.

He said that in conversations with school administrators, in order to meet the school board’s target budget figure, personnel cuts will have to be made at all levels.

“Even if we did have additional retirements, we still may very well have reductions in force,” he said.

School administrators will provide a budget overview and answer questions about where cuts were made at the board meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, in the Spruce Mountain Middle School cafeteria.

School board member Tammy Frost asked when the district would know how much state money it was getting for the next fiscal year.

Healey said it would be available in February.

In other business, Spruce Mountain High School teacher Kymberli Bryant, chairwoman of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges accreditation team at the school, gave an update on the process. She said the association’s visiting team would come between Sept. 24 and 27, and the school board would have to participate at different times during those days.

A panel presentation about the school will be given Sept. 27, which the community is invited to attend. The association visiting team members will meet separately with parents, community and business representatives, support staff, central office personnel, students, teachers and members of the school’s accreditation team.

Healey said the accreditation was being done because even though the former Jay and Livermore Falls high schools had been accredited, their merger to become Spruce Mountain High School in 2011 meant it was a new school.

“What I would like all of you to do is be informed of what it is and why they’re doing it,” he said.

“The only thing I care about is being better,” Bryant said. “The (accreditation) process is the best way for a school and a staff to be better.”

Board member Cindy Young said she thought accreditation could be helpful for students to get into better colleges.

“To be an accredited school is definitely helpful, especially when you’re a new school,” Bryant said.

As education has changed, the accreditation standards have changed, she noted.

“Having those standards as a goal has made a huge difference to us as a district,” Bryant said.

“It allows our school system to be balanced against a nationally recognized standard,” Healey said.

The board also:

* Accepted the retirement of Spruce Mountain Elementary School fourth-grade teacher Debra Timberlake at the end of the 2016-17 school year, with regret.

* Accepted the resignation of Spruce Mountain Elementary School special education teacher Michael Golden, effective Jan. 23.

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“Even if we did have additional retirements, we still may very well have reductions in force.” — RSU 73 Superintendent Kenneth Healey