Superintendent Carrie presented a multi-year review of the district’s budgets and revenue streams, telling the RSU 52/MSAD 52 board that special-education costs and rising insurance premiums are the chief pressures heading into next year’s budget season.

The board was shown year-by-year budget totals, state-share changes, required local shares and a recurring pattern in year-end carryover. Business staff said the district has carried forward a roughly 3.5–5.5% share of the prior year’s budget in recent years and recommended the board consider a formulaic carryover target rather than a fixed dollar amount.

Why it matters: Board members were urged to start thinking about priorities and targets before the formal budget cycle. School officials said some costs (notably special education and health insurance) are driven by factors outside local control; others reflect one-time reimbursements or delayed expenditures.

Key facts presented
- Special-education spending was increased in the current budget by about 14.7% after the board and staff concluded prior-year assumptions underbudgeted MaineCare billings and contracted services. Carrie said the district “did not budget enough” for MaineCare and out-of-district and contracted services, which contributed to the overrun.
- The district’s state aid (state share) has risen over several years but not enough to fully offset increases in the “additional local” share the towns must provide. Board materials showed the required local share has grown modestly while the additional local share has risen more sharply.
- The business office described three recent years of budgets it prepared with the current staff and said the district carried forward $305k, $305k and $405k in earlier years and more recently has settled around $550k as a recurring carryover amount, prompting staff to ask whether a percentage-based carryover (for example, a set percent of the budget) would be more appropriate as the budget grows.
- Efficiency Maine rebates and other one-time revenues were added in the year they were confirmed; staff cautioned those reimbursements reduced local burden only in the year they were received and should not be treated as ongoing revenue.

Board guidance, next steps
Board members asked for more comparative pay-and-contract data for teacher negotiations; Carrie reported the district is collaborating with other Western Maine superintendents and contracting a consultant to extract salary/contract data from other districts’ collective-bargaining agreements. Carrie and the business manager said they will provide the board the spreadsheets from the presentation and compile follow-up requests before the formal budget season begins in November.

Outcome: The consent agenda that included updated job descriptions and other routine items was approved unanimously earlier in the meeting (motion by Joe, second Crystal). The finance discussion produced no immediate votes but set expectations for detailed follow-up and for board members to submit specific questions to the superintendent and business manager ahead of budget development.

Board members said they want recurring updates on: special-education drivers (MaineCare billing and out-of-district placements), maintenance/capital reserve strategy, and realistic assumptions about insurance and negotiated pay increases. Carrie said insurance assumptions will be higher for FY27 and recommended the board set priorities for trade-offs once state aid numbers are available.

Tapering ending: Business staff will email the slide packet and requested follow-up information to board members and run financial scenarios tied to the board’s priorities ahead of the formal budget timeline.