District overview
RSU 56 (Dixfield, Canton, Carthage, Peru)
Funding structure, how it compares to peers, and where major projects stand.
Who runs RSU 56, and how is it paid for?
RSU 56 serves Canton, Carthage, Dixfield and Peru in Oxford County, with about 755 students at Dirigo Elementary (Peru), T.W. Kelly Dirigo Middle School and Dirigo High School (both in Dixfield). Board members are elected by town and their votes are weighted by population, so motions need a set number of weighted votes to pass. Superintendent Pam Doyen has led the district for about nine years and has said she plans to retire in about three years. The budget is adopted at a district budget meeting each May and then validated by a referendum in every town in June. Students also attend Region 9 School of Applied Technology for career and technical education.
$15.99M budget (2026-27)
Up $817,991 (5.39%); validated by voters June 9, 2026.
Weighted board votes
Each town's members carry votes weighted by population.
Meetings streamed
Board meetings are live-streamed on the RSU56 Streaming YouTube channel on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays.
The district website blocks automated access, so agendas, minutes and budget documents could not be collected. This page relies on meeting recordings and their automatic captions.
Where the district stands
From the federal Common Core of Data.
Major projects
2026-27 budget
approved and validatedAdministrators proposed a 6% increase; the board cut it to 5.39% in April. Voters at the district meeting approved every article, rejected adding $36,000 for social work services, and validated the budget on June 9.
- Budget work begins
- 6% recommended
- Board settles on 5.39%
- District budget meeting
- Validation referendum passes
Funding
State aid and assessments on Canton, Carthage, Dixfield and Peru
Recent news
View the news feed →Resources
Practical guides to school phone policies, district budgets, and administrator hiring.
Explore resources →Collected from the RSU56 Streaming YouTube channel's live-stream playlist: 17 board meetings and the district budget meeting, October 2025 to October 2026, read through YouTube's automatic captions. The referendum result comes from the Sun Journal.
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