PARIS — About 90 Oxford Hills voters approved all 18 articles on Maine School Administrative District 17’s 2025-26 budget during Tuesday’s public hearing.

The $54.4 million budget now moves to a district-wide referendum vote on June 10 during state elections.

Several people asked for details and clarification on the spending plan, but unlike last year’s community meetings there was little push back from residents and municipal officials present.

For the fiscal year starting July 1, SAD 17 operational expenses are projected to increase 7.9%, in large part to increasing hard costs and educator wage increases, but also due to a drop of more than $1 million in state funding.

“This budget is about managing loss of revenue,” Superintendent Heather Manchester informed residents during her presentation, referring to Maine Department of Education’s financial cuts. “It was primarily due to a $433 million increase of property values in the district. The state has said, ‘oh your property values have gone up. Therefore, you can raise more money locally to put toward local education. We know that’s not true, but unfortunately that’s how the state’s funding formula works.

“We’ve also had a slight decline in our enrollment, which reduced some of our subsidy. We have a $110,000 decrease in state contribution, and a $934,000 increase in the required local share. The state shifted money they would have provided in the past onto the locals share.”

The school budget goes to referendum June 10 on state election day.

District administrators and the school board’s budget committee put forth the $54.4 million budget after cutting $3 million in operations and staffing.

Fifteen positions have been eliminated and $200,000 was taken from special education. Expenses in systems technology spending will be reduced by $139,000 by cutting staff hours and updating less network cabling in the high school than planned.

Another $1.4 million was cut from the facilities maintenance plan to replace all building windows next year. Instead, the work will be carried out over a period of three years and prioritizing those in the worst condition first.

And $400,000 in operations will be saved by closing Waterford Memorial School and transferring 76 Waterford and Harrison students from PreK through second grade to Harrison Elementary School.

One person who spoke sought assurance that resources are included in the special education budget for educators exposed to unregulated behaviors and troubled students, while another questioned if a SPED budget of $10.3 million is necessary.

Another asked to have clarified whether teacher salary increases are given across the board or through a merit-based scale, and if poor-performing teachers can be fired – which he was told they can be and have been.

All the budget articles were approved unanimously, or with two or fewer opposition votes.

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