The RSU 40 Board of Directors diverged from the recommendation of the district’s budget committee on the evening of Thursday, April 11, voting to approve a budget of $37,619,219 for the 2024-2025 school year, a $1,619,966 or 4.5% increase from the current school year’s adopted budget of $35,999,253.

A new prekindergarten program planned for next year at Great Salt Bay Community School coupled with rising special education needs in the community are the major drivers behind the $7,976,984 budget approved by the school committee at its meeting on Wednesday, April 10, said AOS 93 Business Manager Peter Nielsen.

Jefferson voters approved all 31 town warrant articles at the town’s annual town meeting by referendum on Tuesday, April 16, including a municipal budget of $1,376,164 and the use of $100,000 from the Jefferson Village School’s long-term maintenance fund for a special-education-related project at the school.

A crowded hearing in the Somerville Elementary School gymnasium ended in the resignation of now-former planning board Chair John Bergen on the evening of Tuesday, April 9.

In a business partnership, in which communication, compatible personalities, and trust are of the utmost importance, it takes a special kind of bond to ensure success.

A Friday, April 5 house fire on South Clary Road in Jefferson resulted in the complete destruction of a home over the course of a day, said Jefferson Fire Chief Darin Walker. No residents were in the home at the time and there were no injuries, he said.

In a continuation of a discussion ongoing since October 2023, the Jefferson School Committee voted to ban “sexually explicit” material from the school library during its meeting on Monday, April 1.

Students at Bristol Consolidated School enjoyed a whirlwind introduction to Chinese culture involving food, music, dance, and visual art during the last week in March, when the school held its 26th annual Diversity Week.

Great Salt Bay Community School art teacher and multidisciplinary artist Coreysha Stone, of Alna, will be honored this spring by the Maine Art Education Association as the Middle Level Art Educator of the Year.

Two permanent electronic speed signs will be installed in downtown Waldoboro this spring as part of a shared effort from the town and state to reduce speeding in the historic village, town manager Julie Keizer told the Waldoboro Select Board at its meeting on Tuesday, March 26.

A number of rare livestock breeds that have nearly vanished elsewhere in the world are thriving in Waldoboro, thanks to the efforts of passionate local farmers.