PITTSFIELD – SAD 53 Director Barbara Pomeroy, chairman of the district’s budget committee, credited administrators with bringing in a tight budget this year. “They did a superb job, considering what we were asking of them,” Pomeroy said Monday night.

“It was a hard, hard job,” admitted Warsaw Middle School Principal Arnold Shorey.

The full board accepted the committee’s proposal, a $9.2 million budget that represents an overall 2.02 percent increase over last year and includes not filling positions created by resignations, shifting classrooms around and eliminating a number of educational technicians.

If approved by voters as presented, Pittsfield’s share will increase by $77,818; Burnham’s share will go up by $17,167; Detroit’s share will decrease by $3,584. The individual towns’ shares are based on state valuations, which decreased in Detroit but rose in the other two communities.

The public hearing on the proposal will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 28, at the Warsaw Middle School library, and the referendum vote will be held June 10.

The SAD 53 state subsidy increased by less than $200,000, and directors carried forward $300,000, bringing the local assessment being asked for to $2.3 million, up by $18,000.

In other business Monday, the board heard a presentation on the district’s innovative partnership with Kennebec Valley Community Action Program and Maine’s Child Development Services for a preschool program at Manson Park School. Director of Operations Tracye Fortin said the program was being used as a model for similar programs and that KVCAP is currently operating 11 classrooms in central Maine patterned after SAD 53’s.

Assistant Principal Michael Rubashkin explained that the program is currently seeking accreditation. If successful, it would be the first public district preschool program in the state to be accredited.

Co-teachers Pamela Corson and Susie Furrow explained the program for board members, including an outline of the many lifetime benefits to children served by preschool programs. Currently 16 children are being served in the program from Tuesdays through Fridays, leaving Mondays open for teacher training, home visits and curriculum planning.

In other business, the board:

. Heard an update about a recent consent agreement proposal with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection for improper disposal of hazardous waste, which were chemicals found in a former science classroom. The DEP fine of $7,900 could possibly be mitigated by 90 percent, said Superintendent Michael Gallagher, through a districtwide, school and community education program. The DEP will respond to SAD 53 in a month.

. Learned that the middle school drop out prevention program, Transitions, was included in the budget. Transitions is the equivalent of an earlier version of the program called Jobs for Maine Graduates and is a $60,000 state and federally sponsored program that will be leveraged with $18,000 in local funds.

. Agreed that a structural study of Warsaw Middle School is appropriate following the discovery of a crack caused by weather-related shifting that runs the full length of the building.

. Approved using money approved in a recent referendum to repair the roof at Vickery School. The roof was dropped from the project when it was thought too expensive but now the roof is leaking. It is a flat roof, more than 20 years old, said Gallagher.