NAPLES — Residents of the four towns in School Administrative District 61 will vote in a referendum Tuesday on the same $26.6 million budget that they rejected in June.

The district’s Board of Directors removed $75,000 from the budget at a meeting in July, but residents at a district budget meeting Tuesday voted to restore that funding.

Voters in SAD 61, which comprises Casco, Sebago, Naples and Bridgton, have twice rejected the proposed budget for 2011-2012.

The first proposal, for $26.8 million, was rejected by all four towns at a referendum in May. School officials cut $262,000 from that budget by eliminating a kindergarten teacher, a part-time library clerk and a transition program between middle and high school.

The second proposal, for $26.6 million, was rejected in Casco and Sebago but approved in Bridgton and, by one vote, in Naples. In total, it failed by 16 votes.

After that vote, the board cut a first-grade teacher and decided to start charging a fee for community groups to use the school facilities, bringing the budget down to $26.5 million.

The money was restored in a town-hall style vote Tuesday after parents of elementary school students and groups that rely on the free use of school facilities spoke about the effect of those proposed cuts, said SAD 61 Finance Coordinator Sherrie Small.

Small said about 125 people attended the meeting at Lake Region High School.

Copy the Story Link

Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.