Revised $7.5M SAD 4 budget moved to referendum

GUILFORD – A month after SAD 4 residents turned down a proposed 2025-26 budget of $9,752,463 — via a count of 282-187 on the ballot across its half dozen communities — a revised spending plan totaling $9,531,320 was approved at a district budget meeting on Tuesday evening at Piscataquis Community Elementary School.

On Thursday, July 24 residents of Abbot, Cambridge, Guilford, Parkman, Sangerville and Wellington will head to the respective polls to vote on the $9.5 million figure in the second of the two-step budget approval process.

“We met in May and passed a budget and then it failed at referendum, so we are back to the drawing board again,” Superintendent Kelly MacFadyen said.

Mentioning the new proposed budget is down by more than $221,000 than what was first brought to the polls. MacFadyen said what was presented Tuesday night is an appropriate amount to run the school system. “So any more cuts we make will have an impact,” she said.

Reductions in the second budget include approximately $94,000 in the Learning for Life program, $72,000 for not filling an IT position with the employee having left the district and $38,000 for no longer having some assistant sports coaches that were set to be added in 2025-26.

“We tried to make cuts that would have the least impact on the district,” MacFadyen said. She said the dozen Learning for Life alternative education students will be accommodated through other programming.

The $9.5 million is up $283,929 or 3.07 percent from the 2024-25 budget of $9,247,391. The $9.75 million figure voted down in June represented a 5.46 percent increase from last year.

For 2025-26 the state is allocating $3,264,110 to SAD 4, $147,237 less than the $3.4 million-plus allocated in 2024-25.

In order to receive these funds, the district is required to raise $2,982,900 or a $29,387 increase. 

A sum of $1,963,019 in local additional monies was requested. This warrant article was approved by a count of 38-10 via the required written ballot.

Each district community has its local required figure, additional local amount and costs for the Piscataquis Valley Adult Education Cooperative (SAD 4’s proportional share of the regional program is $53,256 of nearly $450,000).

SAD 4 continues to explore regionalization, including working on an application for a regional comprehensive high school with the Dexter-based-SAD 46 through the Maine Department of Education, and other options, MacFadyen said.

The two districts have already collaborated with sports teams. In the spring a half dozen high school baseball players from Piscataquis Community High School were part of the Dexter Regional High School team, rather than not playing at all due to low numbers in Guilford. Last fall middle school field players traveled to Dexter to be part of the Ridge View Community School squad to have the opportunity to participate.

Every three years the state requires school districts to determine if they wish to continue with having a referendum to affirm the budget approved at the annual district meeting. If not, the meeting would be the only time to set the finances for the upcoming academic year. A question to continue the district budget meeting/referendum process or not was on the June ballot.

Last month SAD 4 residents voted to continue to have the referendum to validate the school budget for the next three years, via a total of 312-155.