Cape Elizabeth schools opened last week with a budget at long last approved by voters.

By a nearly 2-1 margin, Cape Elizabeth voters gave their approval to a $19.8 million school budget Sept. 2.

The newly validated school budget will add 55 cents to the town’s tax rate, bringing the total tax increase to 98 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation, an increase of 5.98 percent.

According to Town Clerk Ruthie Noble, 1,425 people voted in favor of the budget, a 5.3 percent increase over the 2007-2008 school year’s budget, and 731 voted against it. Voter turnout was approximately 30 percent.

It was the town’s third attempt to pass a school budget under a new state law requiring popular validation of school budgets, which in Cape Elizabeth and other towns were previously passed at the municipal level.

Only about three towns in Maine failed to pass a budget in the first two tries. In Cape, voters first rejected a budget with a 4.3 percent increase as too low, then rejected a budget with a 6 percent increase as too high.

In a second, advisory poll, voters were less definitive as to whether they believed the budget was too high, too low or just right Most, 850, said it was too high; 717 said it was too low, and 541 said the amount of increase was “acceptable.”

Differences between the approved budget and the 6 percent budget recommended by the Board of Education are a $3,124 decrease in the line item for field trips at the middle school, elimination of a proposed district-wide curriculum director ($82,610), elimination of a proposed district-wide technology technician ($27,500), and elimination of a psychologist. The amended budget adds $25,000 for energy costs. Overall, the difference between the 5.3 percent budget and the 6 percent budget proposed by the school board is $131,541.

Cape Elizabeth schools had been operating under the 6 percent budget last approved by the School Board, as required by state law. In reality, however, Superintendent Alan Hawkins has not hired anyone to fill positions that were part of the 6 percent budget but eliminated by voters Sept. 2.