LIVERMORE FALLS — With less than a week to go before classes begin, the RSU 73 board signed an approved $18.59 million budget, appointed more than a dozen full- and part-time staff, and set the dates for the high school graduations for Spruce Mountain High School North and South campuses.

The board returned to the Central Office for its meeting Thursday night, and for the first time in many weeks, also returned to a regular meeting schedule. That means, there’s no meeting next week and the next one isn’t until Sept. 13.

It has been a rough time for the board and the district. Three votes were needed to finally pass an operating budget, with success coming on Aug. 21.

“I’m very glad the budget passed,” said Jay representative Mary Redmond-Luce, vice chairwoman of the board, who presided over Thursday’s meeting.

In conjunction with signing the approved budget, the board also approved and signed the warrants for the assessment of taxes to the member towns of Jay, Livermore and Livermore Falls for fiscal year July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2013.

Jay representative Darcie Comstock told the board that the seniors on each campus will begin planning graduation events when they return to classes next week.

“They want to know what to do,” she said.

The board then voted to set the graduation date for the south campus for 7 p.m. Saturday, June 8, and for the north campus, at 1 p.m. Sunday, June 9.

Student representatives from both campuses had appeared before the board earlier this year to get guidance on whether the classes would graduate together or separately. Each campus has a set of traditions that are different from one another.

For the Class of 2014, graduation may be different since the board’s task force is currently studying the uses and possible reconfiguration of district buildings in an effort to try to find the space to accommodate all high school students from both campuses next year.

Voters in the three towns turned down a plan to borrow $5.3 million to build an addition onto the existing SMHS North campus in May.

The board also voted to send a letter to the town of Livermore Falls asking officials whether the town wants ownership of the recently vacated former Livermore Falls Middle School.

Superintendent Robert Wall said that if the town does not want ownership, then the district will have to look at other options, including finding funds to demolish it.

If the town does not want the building and the board goes with the option to demolish it, Wall said the district may want to retain ownership of the land for future use.