TOPSHAM

The district-wide budget meeting for School Administrative District 75 will be held Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the Orion Performing Arts Center at Mt. Ararat Middle School in Topsham.

Meeting participants will decide on what budget they will send to voters, known as a budget validation referendum.

The SAD 75 board has recommended a $37,574,538 budget for 2016-17. The total local share is $22 million — an increase of $489,021 or 2.22 percent.

Due to dropping enrollment, school officials propose to cut two classroom teacher positions. They plan to keep the school resource officer, add a classroom teacher at Williams-Cone School, add a district office administrator for an hour a day, contract for a full-time teacher of the deaf and a half-time interpreter, add money for increased out-of-district transportation costs, replace two vans and purchase diagnostic tools to better assess repair needs of district vehicles.

Based on this proposed spending plan, the local contribution increase could be divided amongst the four communities in SAD 75 as follows:

• A 2.24 percent or $60,160 increase for Bowdoin

• A 2.22 percent or $60,598 increase of Bowdoinham

• A 0.84 percent or $64,159 increase for Harpswell

• A 3.41 percent or $304,103 increase for Topsham

There are 20 articles on the meeting warrant which residents will vote on followed by a final summary vote on approval of the budget. The dollar amounts associated with each article may only be amended down, because the school board voted to have closed warrant articles.

The resulting budget will be voted up or down by voters at their local polling locations on June 14.

dmoore@timesrecord.com