PARIS — Directors of Maine School Administrative District 17 voted 15-1 Monday to approve a revised budget of $50.79 million to go to voters Tuesday.

The amount is $770,138 less than the $51.56 million voters rejected June 11. Some open teaching, instructional coach and educational technician positions were removed, and the Agnes Gray teaching principal position was shifted to an assistant principal, resulting in a decrease to regular instruction but slight increase to administration payroll.

Directors also eliminated a $2 million capital improvement request that would have been solely funded by the local share.

The 2023-24 budget was $47.95 million.

A public hearing and initial vote on the revised 2024-25 budget will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday in The Forum at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in Paris. The final validation vote is scheduled for Aug. 6.

Fifteen of the board’s 22 members voted for the new spending plan. Five were absent and one seat is vacant.

Christie Wessels, one of Paris’ four directors, voted against it.

“I wish we could see a stronger effort to reduce costs,” she said, adding that she was not committed to any specific amount. “… It’s hard because of inflation. We need to pay our teachers.

“There were a couple of outdoor teacher positions added that are nice but not essential, in my opinion. … I love (outdoor learning), but I feel it’s one of those things you can do without needing professional instruction,” she said.

For the past few years Maine School Administrative District 17’s outdoor education program, including equipment and weather gear, has been largely funded by Rethinking Remote Education Ventures grants totaling $400,000. The salary for the district’s outdoor learning coach, Sarah Timm, has been covered by that money.

The second outdoor educator provides STEM instruction based at Roberts Farm in Norway. Until the end of the 2023-24 school year Sarah Kearsley’s position there has been largely funded by grants from New Balance and American Rescue Plan Act funds. This will be the first year Roberts Farm’s instruction would be funded by MSAD 17.

However, since the June 11 referendum, the district has been awarded a new grant that will cover about half of Kearsley’s salary.

The Western Foothills Land Trust has provided the site for MSAD 17 outdoor and agriculture learning programs for the past 14 years.

Currently, a modular classroom is being built at Roberts Farm and will be ready for students to use in September. The entire cost of the new $890,000 building is being paid with ARPA funding.

Since outdoor education was first launched at Agnes Gray Elementary School six years ago, the district has become a model for other school districts to develop experiential learning throughout Maine.