AURORA, Maine — Residents of the seven communities that belong to Alternative Organizational Structure 81 will be holding their annual budget meeting a little earlier than usual, the superintendent of schools said Tuesday.
The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 10, at Airline Community School located at 26 Great Pond Road in Aurora, according to the warrant issued earlier this week.
During the meeting, residents of Regional School Unit 63’s member towns Holden, Eddington and Clifton and Community School District 8’s member towns of Amherst, Aurora, Great Pond and Osborn will be asked to spend $526,817 for shared costs ranging from special education and system administration to transportation and facilities maintenance.
Forming AOS 81 several years ago allowed RSU 63 and CSD 8 to consolidate while maintaining local control, Superintendent David Anderson said.
Adopting the AOS budget early will put school officials ahead of the curve when it comes to developing the RSU 63 and CSD 8 budgets this spring, Anderson said.
That’s because the shared costs are relatively small and are part of both local budgets, he said.
The AOS has seven employees whose services are shared among its member communities, including the superintendent, business manager, bookkeeper, a transportation and operations director, special services director and clerical staff.
The AOS budget basically consists of those employees’ salaries plus some central office costs, such as supplies, he said.