BAR HARBOR – Sixteen people turned out for the Mount Desert Island Regional School System (MDI RSS) annual meeting on the snowy evening of Jan. 20 to approve a $1.3 million budget for the central office for next fiscal year.

The meeting was open to residents of all eight towns in the school system. Those towns include Bar Harbor, Mount Desert, Southwest Harbor, Tremont, Trenton, Cranberry Isles, Swans Island and Frenchboro.

Next year’s budget for the superintendent’s office and centralized services includes $489,797 for administration, $447,615 for special education and $310,204 for student and staff support.

The total budget is 13.4 percent higher than the budget for the current fiscal year. However, all but about $6,500 of the $151,000 increase is due to the addition of occupational therapy (OT) services for special education students.

No money was budgeted for OT for the current fiscal year; however, the school system anticipates spending $139,532 this year for OT services.

The MDI RSS budget for next year calls for a reduction of $1,516 for administration.

For more education news, pick up a copy of the Mount Desert Islander.

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