Four weeks into the school year and three months since it first came before voters, the Caribou-based RSU 39 finally passed a budget Tuesday in a third validation referendum.

Residents in Caribou, who account for nearly 97% of the district’s population, voted 416-389 in favor of the $24.5 million budget, which despite being a nearly $1 million increase over the previous year, is set to decrease taxes.

In Stockholm, where residents voted in favor of the budget in the two previous referendums, the vote was 22-3.

It’s the third year in a row the district’s budget has increased by more than $950,000 as it deals with rising education costs that are gripping schools throughout Maine. But unlike previous years, where taxpayers were forced to shoulder most of that burden, a $1 million state sub

See Full Page