Portland residents are invited to attend early budget preparation meetings starting in December, school officials said today.

Portland school administrators are developing next year's budget three months early because it will be the subject of a first-time referendum in April, as required under the state's new district consolidation law.

Starting next month, elementary, middle and high school principals will make budget presentations before the school committee's finance subcommittee. The presentations will cover staffing, programs, new initiatives, where money is spent now and what challenges exist.

The meetings will be at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 12 and 19 and Jan. 9, Room 321, Portland Arts and Technology High School, off Allen Avenue. Budget documents will be posted on the school district's Web site.

Draft budgets will be presented Jan. 15, followed by a public hearing. Interim Superintendent Jeanne Whynot-Vickers will present her proposed budget to the School Committee on Jan. 23.

The committee is scheduled to vote on the budget Feb. 27, and the city council is slated to complete its work on the budget a month later. A citywide referendum on the school budget will be held April 8.