HODGDON, Maine — MSAD 70’s $7.25 million budget for next school year got the OK from town registered voters on Thursday night.
The board-approved budget reflects an increase of $53,130 over last year with an additional local ask of $159,125, according to Superintendent Tyler Putnam.
“This is the second year in a row that we have had an increase to the towns with previous years the district even returning money to the towns,” he said. “One position, originally an ESSER [COVID-19 funds] position created to assist the nurse, has been removed from the budget. All other positions remain.”
The U.S. Department of Education’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds were distributed to address various school needs created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Hodgdon school district includes the towns of Amity, Haynesville, Hodgdon, Ludlow, Linneus and New Limerick.
Similar to other Maine school districts, MSAD 70’s state contribution was down due to decreased enrollment and increasing town valuations, Putnam said. Nonetheless, other districts like Houlton and Caribou are forced to cut positions and increase the local contribution significantly to balance their budgets.
Putnam credits the school board and central office staff with keeping the budget in check.
“They have done an excellent job in the past four years to use Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief money wisely so they will not need to be absorbed into the local budget,” he said.
According to Putnam, there will be a referendum budget vote on June 11 for all the towns in the district.
“We also have a School Revolving Renovation Fund vote on the June 11 ballot, “ Putnam said.
The three-year state valuation averages for the towns include Amity, $16.2 million; Haynesville, $13.9 million; Hodgdon, $70 million; Linneus, $75.1 million; Ludlow, $26.6 million; and New Limerick, $126.8 million.
The local required share is based on town valuations.
Amity’s required contribution is $107,244 and the additional local is $3,696; Haynesville required is $91,907 and additional is $621; Hodgdon required is $463,620 and additional is $28,347; Linneus required is $496,610 and additional is $26,697; Ludlow required is $175,761 and additional is $9,559; and New Limerick required is $599,340 and additional is $90,205.
