JAY — Voters in Regional School Unit 73 approved a nearly $27 million budget Tuesday for 2026‑27 and elected three incumbents and four newcomers to the district’s board of directors.
More than 1,200 residents of Jay, Livermore and Livermore Falls cast ballots in the Spruce Mountain School District.
Voting was by referendum as part of the annual town meetings in the three municipalities.
“I want to give a big thank you to our three communities for supporting this budget in difficult financial times, especially with recent reevaluations. They have put our children first!” Superintendent Scott Albert wrote in an email Wednesday morning.
The budget vote was the final step in a process that began last fall, when department heads submitted budget requests to Albert. Residents strongly backed the plan April 2 by a show of hands at the annual budget meeting in Jay.
The new budget takes effect July 1 and runs through June 30, 2027.
The ballot for the school budget had two articles: one to approve the spending plan and another to allow the board to issue up to $880,230 in bonds or notes to buy and install a new boiler at Spruce Mountain Primary School in Livermore.
Voters in Jay and Livermore Falls approved both articles. Voters in Livermore approved the budget but not the boiler bond.
The vote by town on Article 1, the budget, was: Jay, yes 465, no 207; Livermore, yes 152, no 146; Livermore Falls, yes 146, no 111. District totals were 753 yes to 464 no.
On Article 2, the boiler bond, the vote was: Jay, yes 510, no 159; Livermore, yes 135, no 160; Livermore Falls, yes 179, no 79. District totals were 824 yes to 398 no.
Jay elected four members to the RSU 73 board of directors, and Livermore Falls elected three. The three Livermore directors’ terms will expire in 2028, when the town will elect three directors to staggered terms.
Jay voters elected two directors to full three‑year terms and one director each to two‑year and one‑year terms. Eight candidates ran for the seats – four for the three‑year terms and two each for the shorter terms.
Two incumbents were not reelected.
For the three‑year terms, Jay voters were to choose two of the four candidates. The vote was: Tamara Hoke, 391; Danielle Brotherton (incumbent), 279; Shari Ouellette (incumbent), 256; and Jodi Cordes (incumbent), 195. Hoke is the librarian at the Jay‑Niles Memorial Library. Ouellette is the chair of the board.
For the two‑year term, Matthew J. Brennick defeated Edward P. Walsh 323-306. For the one‑year term, Avery F. Ryder defeated Joyce A. Badeau 348-293.
“I am disappointed but not surprised,” Ouellette, who has been board chair for a year, said Wednesday morning of the results.
An organization called Citizens in Support of Public Education endorsed Hoke, Brotherton, Walsh and Ryder. All but Walsh won.
Linda Deane, a member of the group and a resident of Livermore Falls, said Wednesday morning that it wants school board members “who want the best for the students and think bipartisan and follow the law.”
She said the group sent out flyers and knocked on doors to drum up support for its candidates in Jay and Livermore Falls.
In Livermore Falls, voters returned two incumbents and defeated one. Final vote totals were not available Wednesday morning from the Town Office.
Don Emery, an incumbent, defeated Heather Bronish for a full three‑year term. Kathy Bryant defeated incumbent Phoebe Pike for a two‑year term. Tammy Ferrari, an incumbent appointed as an interim director to an unexpired term, defeated Boyd Roy. She will serve the final year of the term to which she was appointed.
Citizens in Support of Public Education had endorsed Bronish, Pike and Roy.
“I cannot understand why our candidates didn’t do better in Livermore Falls,” Deane said.
The directors are expected to take their seats at the next RSU 73 board of directors meeting, scheduled for May 14. They are to be sworn in at their town offices.
The budget calls for spending $26,761,629, an increase of 2.89 percent over the current $26,009,354 spending plan. Voters agreed to raise $5,263,873 above the amount the state will fund under the Essential Programs and Services, or EPS, formula.
RSU 73 expects to receive about $15 million in 2026‑27 through EPS. None of the $5,263,873 is reimbursed by the state.
The largest spending articles are: regular instruction (teacher salaries and benefits), $9.8 million; special education, $6 million; student and staff support, $4.2 million; facilities maintenance, $3.1 million; transportation and buses, $1.9 million; and school administration, $1.5 million.
Total taxation expected for each town is: Jay, $4.713 million, an increase of $533,000; Livermore, $3.255 million, an increase of $262,000; and Livermore Falls, $2.927 million, an increase of $148,000.
Correction: The name of the candidate defeated by Tammy Ferrari and endorsed by Citizens in Support of Public Education is Boyd Roy, not Boyd Ray as previously reported.
