SAD 46 officials developing 2027 budget
DEXTER — SAD 46 officials are in the midst of putting together the budget for the 2026-27 academic year.
The school board’s budget committee met the previous two Wednesday evenings, Superintendent Kevin Jordan said during an April 1 board meeting at the Ridge View Community School. Presentations from SAD 46 administrators and department heads described what they would like to see in the 2026-27 finances.
The committee will meet on Wednesdays in April “as we continue to develop a draft of the 2026-27 SAD 46 budget,” Jordan said.
The group will devise a budget to bring to the full school board for a vote. This spending plan will then be brought to a district budget meeting, often held in late May. The total approved that evening is moved to a June referendum vote in the SAD 46 towns of Dexter, Exeter, Garland and Ripley for final approval.
The district’s proportional share of the Piscataquis Valley Adult Education Cooperative budget will remain the same as the $76,314 for the current year, board member Ted Noakes said.
The budget for the Tri-County Technical Center is also being developed, SAD 46 is part of this educational entity with other area school districts.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” TCTC Director Brian Leavitt said.
In other business, the board approved the 2026-27 school calendar as recommended by the TCTC Regional Council. Area districts all have a very similar schedule to accommodate secondary students who attend the regional tech center in Dexter.
SAD 46 usually has a teacher workshop around Veterans Day but with Nov. 11 falling on a Wednesday in 2026, the workshop will instead be scheduled for Monday, Jan. 4 to give students an extra day off after the Christmas vacation.
Dec. 25 is a Friday this year, so the holiday break will begin on Wednesday, Dec. 23 for 2026-27.
“Other than that it’s the pretty standard calendar we’ve done for several years,” Jordan said.
The last day of classes would be Thursday, June 10 of 2027, but most likely this will be pushed back with some snow days.
The first day of school would be Wednesday, Aug. 26.
Fundraising for the lighting project for the athletic field at Dexter Regional High School has surpassed the $150,000 milestone, Principal Stephen Bell said. This is enough money to get the lights on site, about two thirds of the way toward the $250,000 goal.
In addition to lights to allow for sporting events to take place after sunset for the first time in Dexter, the project includes a synthetic athletic field and track and grandstand and concessions and storage buildings where the current football field and surrounding dirt track are. Installing permanent lights is intended to increase safety, allow evening practices and games, create more opportunities for athletes and make it easier for families to attend.
Last fall a T-Mobile campaign gave the school $75,000 toward an upgraded athletic facility.
“I received an email on the way here for $5,000 from Darling Ford,” Assistant Principal/Athletic Director Adam Gudroe said about another project donation.
The high school’s unified basketball team finished the season with a record of 4-2-1, and took part in a play day with other programs at Orono High School on March 7, Bell said in his report.
“That program continues to be a great success,” he said. “If you ever want to feel good about life, come to a unified basketball game.”
“We have very strong numbers for all of our teams this spring, so we are very excited about that,” Ridge View Principal Jessica Dyer said. The following week practices will begin for middle school baseball, softball and track teams.
New board member Matthew Marshall from Ripley was welcomed to his first meeting by Board Chair Michael Burton.
Marshall takes over a seat that had been held by long-time board member Robert Player.
“He was a pillar of this board,” Burton said.
Later in the meeting Leavitt said he wanted to publicly thank Player for his work on the school board and TCTC Regional Council, saying Player was a strong advocate for career and technical education.