FARMINGTON — Regional School Unit 9 directors Tuesday, March 26 set meeting dates for the 2019-20 budget-approval process.

The Budget Committee has been reviewing requests, Superintendent Tina Meserve said. It was expected the committee would finalize its recommendations on Thursday.

Regional School Unit 9 Directors Jeffery Harris of New Sharon, Doug Dunlap of Farmington and Lidie Robbins of Vienna review meeting dates Tuesday at Mt. Blue High School in Farmington. Franklin Journal photo by Dee Menear

The budget will be presented to the board at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 2, at the Forum at Mt. Blue High School.

A community forum will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 9 at Mt. Blue Campus. Meserve said the forum would begin with a 30- or 40- minute budget presentation.

“This is where we will talk about what communities are getting for whatever the proposed budget will be,” Meserve said. “I will present the bottom line of the budget and what the impact will be on taxes in our communities. After the presentation the board would hear feedback from community members.”

On Tuesday, April 23, the board will adopt the final proposal. 

Voters will consider the budget at the districtwide meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 28, in Bjorn Auditorium at the Mt. Blue Campus.

The budget referendum will be held Tuesday, June 11, at polling stations in the district towns.

In other matters, the board accepted changing the start time of its regular meetings from 7 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

“I am in favor of moving the meeting,” Director Lidie Robbins of Vienna said. “I am not in favor of a two and a half hour meeting.”

Board policy dictates meetings end at 9 p.m. unless directors vote to extend it.

“We still need to be concise and try not to go over a two-hour time, Chairwoman Cherieann Harrison of Wilton said.

The board also reviewed first readings of several policy updates regarding use of district facilities.

The policy committee proposed updating policy KF, Community Use of School Facilities, to say “Tobacco and electronic nicotine devices are not allowed on school property.”

The board was in favor of a motion made by Robbins to change the wording to “Tobacco products, and nicotine and other similar vaping devices are not allowed on school property.”

The policies will be read a second time at an upcoming meeting before the board votes to adopt them.

The board also dissolved several policies regarding facilities use. The polices, Meserve said, were redundant and included fee schedules for use of the facilities.

“The fees will still be in place, they just won’t be part of a policy,” she added. “Rental fees should not be part of policy.”

Community, non-profit, and non-school student groups use school facilities for a variety of events, meetings and activities.

dmenear@thefranklinjournal.com