Edgecomb residents approved their school budget in a process mandated by the state's school consolidation law this year at a town meeting on Monday. The state requires that spending be separated into 11 categories. Article one was to elect a moderator, followed by:

Article 2 - Regular Instruction - $1,168,995; Article 3 - Special Education - $546,380; Article 4 - Career and Technical Education - $0; Art i cle 5 - Other Instruction - $15,959; Article 6 - Student and Staff Support - $65,135; Article 7 - System Administration - $ 70,311; Article 8 - School Administration - $112,768; Article 9 - Transportation and Busses - $86,905; Article 10 - Facilities Maintenance - $187,834; Article 11 - Debt Service and Other Commitments - $384,371; Article 12 - All Other Expenditures - $5,708.

Article 13 - "Cost of funding public education from kindergarten to grade 12 as described in the Essential Programs and Services Funding Act (Recommend $2,017,935 and to see what sum the Town will raise as the Town's contribution to the total cost of funding public education from kindergarten to grade 12 as described in the Essential Programs and Services Funding Act in accordance with the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A 15688.) This Article approves the Town's contribution to the total cost of funding public education from kindergarten to grade 12 as described in the Essential Programs and Studies Act is the amount of money determined by state law to be the minimum amount that a municipality must raise in order to receive the full amount of state dollars - $1,414,800"

Article 14 - "Annual payments on debt service previously approved by the Town voters for non-state-funded school construction projects, non-state funded portions of school construction projects and minor capital projects in addition to the funds appropriated as the local share of the Town's contribution to the total cost of funding public education from kindergarten to grade 12. - $0"

Article 15 - "What sum the Town will raise and appropriate in addition to local funds ($557,516) which exceeds the State's Essential Programs and Services allocation model by ($522,689.12) as required to fund the budget recommended by the school committee.

"The school committee recommends $557,618 for additional local funds and gives the following reasons for exceeding the State's Essential Programs and Services funding model by $522,689.12: This amount is needed to cover costs of Town schools that the state's funding model does not recognize including the following: 1) costs of maintaining student-teacher ratios, 2) costs of special education programming, 3) costs of extra-curricular and co-curricular programs, 4) transportation costs, and 5) food service costs. - $577,618

Article 16 - "Sum authorized by the Town for the school committee to expend for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2008, and ending June 30, 2009 from the Town's contribution to the total cost of funding public education from kindergarten to grade 12 as described in the Essential Programs and Services Funding Act, non-state funded construction projects, additional local funds for school purposes under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 15690, unexplained balances, tuition receipts, state subsidy and other receipts for the support of schools. $2,644,366."

The meeting took about 90 minutes, and had a lot of good discussion, said superintendent Eileen King.

Residents will be asked to accept the actions of the May 5 meeting at the secret ballot Budget Validation Referendum Vote on Friday, May 16 at the Edgecomb Town Hall, from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.