WALES — Regional School Unit 4 administrators have proposed a school budget of just under $19.3 million for 2019-20, a $185,000 increase from 2018-19.
Presented to the school board Wednesday, the draft budget is less than a 1 percent increase over the $19.1 million budget passed last year.
“All of it, really, is just salary and benefits, contractual obligations at this point,” Superintendent Andrew Carlton said Friday.
He said administrators tried to keep spending down.
“Obviously, every school district has things they wish for, right?” Carlton said, “and things we could really use. But at the end of the day, we also understand the financial constraints in the area, with our homeowners who are paying taxes. They did a fantastic job putting together a first draft that kept things together, kept our programs together, and didn’t ask for anything they don’t need.”
“Realistically,” he added, “there’s nothing new in this budget.”
The proposal is in the hands of the school board. Sabattus, Litchfield and Wales residents will have a chance to vote on each of the proposed cost centers at a hearing in May. That date had not yet been set.
District residents will vote on an overall school budget in June.
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