Wiscasset's school department will be making sure it keeps its financial house in order, Interim Superintendent of Schools Lyford Beverage said.

“Most of all, we don't want any surprises,” Beverage said August 5, at the first meeting of the school committee's finance committee.

Beverage noted that the department has opened at a greater cost than the town was paying for education as part of Regional School Unit 12. (Year one has led to a projected tax hike of nearly 10 percent for Wiscasset property owners.)

“The school committee is very sensitive to the financial well-being of the school department,” Beverage said. “This (meeting) is a first step toward making sure that we track things properly.”

The department hired Regional School Unit 12 to do payroll and other business duties this year.

On Tuesday, the district's business manager Belinda Waterhouse showed Beverage and the finance committee the paperwork that the district will provide monthly.

Beverage said he was comfortable with Waterhouse's plan.

“This is great,” School Committee Chairman Steve Smith said. Smith serves on the finance panel with fellow school committee member Eugene Stover.

The finance committee will meet the first Tuesday of every month, at 8 a.m. at Wiscasset Middle School, Smith said.