MADAWASKA, Maine — Madawaska residents approved the school’s $10 million annual budget during a May 27 town meeting. The next step for formal approval will be for residents to vote on the budget during Madawaska’s upcoming June 10 election.
The locally funded portion of this budget is $5.05 million which represents a $236,000 increase over last year’s locally funded portion of $4.81 million.
The total budget, which includes state contributions, of $10 million represents a roughly $500,000 increase over last year’s $9.48 million total budget.
This year’s budget includes a total of $3.5 million in state revenue, of which $3.1 million comes from the Essential Programs and Services funding allocation. The budget also includes a total of $638,471 in tuition and fees.
Superintendent Ben Sirois said the budget is an 0.8 percent increase over the previous year’s, and reflects the school’s effort to work with the town’s finance committee to look at budget priorities.
“Throughout the four budget reads between February and May, we were able to identify 4.5 staffing positions that we could cut,” Sirois said, “while adding an additional special education teaching position for a net decrease of 3.5 positions.”
Sirois said the school also deferred some low-priority projects for the current school year.
“I believe we have made our best effort to be fiscally responsible for the citizens of Madawaska while still prioritizing the educational needs for our students,” Sirois said.
Sirois, in a community note published in the school’s budget book, said the approach to this year’s budget has focused on sustaining momentum while acknowledging demographic and workforce challenges. He wrote that the school is working on sharing services across districts and rethinking how education is delivered amid a time when rural districts across the state are experiencing declining student enrollments, aging infrastructure and higher competition for qualified teachers.
Overall, Madawaska’s final municipal budget, which includes school and county expenses, is $9.96 million this year. This is a roughly $910,137 increase over last year’s budget, but with an additional $241,811 in anticipated revenues, the deficit will equal out to $836,657.
After the June 10 approval, residents will approve the town’s overall budget during a June 24 meeting, set for 6 p.m. in the Madawaska High School cafeteria.
