BUCKFIELD — The Regional School Unit 10 directors reviewed a 2022-23 school budget proposal, that is slightly over $31 million, during their board meeting Monday at Buckfield Junior-Senior High School.

The amount is an increase of $1.1 million from this year’s budget of $29.94 million and would mean an average 2.66% increase in taxpayers’ assessments for the seven towns of the district: Buckfield, Hanover, Hartford, Mexico, Roxbury, Rumford and Sumner.

The proposed $31 million budget is expected to drop by $60,000, since additional cuts from employee health care insurance costs and staff retirements weren’t yet figured into the budget paperwork in time for Monday’s board meeting, said Superintendent Deb Alden.

One proposal accepted by the board of directors on Monday was a change from a combined position for athletic director and assistant principal for Mountain Valley High School in Rumford to a separate athletic director position that would cover both the high school and the middle school.

“What happens is the AD demands take over (the job),” Alden said to the board.

Tom Danylik held the combined AD/AP position for the high school and he also served as the AD for the middle school until he became principal at the high school in March. Danylik was also the interim principal at MVHS since Matt Gilbert resigned last September.

The Regional School Unit 10 board of directors meet Monday night at Buckfield Junior-Senior High School. The directors are currently reviewing a 2022-23 budget proposal of $31 million, an increase of $1.1 million from this year’s budget of $29.94 million. Marianne Hutchinson/Rumford Falls Times