The Milton School District must now figure out how to move forward after their $9.5 million operating referendum was overwhelmingly turned down by voters during Tuesday’s election.

Superintendent Richard Dahman says difficult decisions will have to be made over the next few months regarding staffing, programs, and services that are available for students because of significant shortfall between revenue and expenditures.

Dahman says about 75% of their overall budget is dedicated to staffing costs, so to make significant reductions in expenses means having fewer people, which in turn means larger class sizes and less opportunities for students.

Dahman says they will now go through a process over the next few weeks to see what those reductions could be before brining them in front of the board for next year’s budget.