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RSU 22 principals outline Article 1 budget: staffing shifts, pre-K expands to five days; insurance set at 10%
Summary
Principals from RSU 22 schools reviewed Article 1 (regular instruction) during a budget meeting and described mostly flat school-level budgets with targeted staffing changes, a districtwide move to five-day pre-K at Smith School, and an insurance rate finalized at 10 percent that will be applied across budget lines going forward.
Superintendent Randall opened the RSU 22 budget review by saying the meeting would cover Articles 1 and 2, with Article 1 representing regular instruction and Article 2 special education.
Dawn Moore, principal of Smith School in Winterport, said the school’s building budget is “pretty flat funded” but requested an added teacher to accommodate class shifts and confirmed Smith’s pre-K will move from four days to five days a week. Moore also noted the one-day-per-week pre-K program previously cost an additional $4,500 under contract arrangements and described the change to five days as an equity correction between the district’s two towns.
Principals from other schools described few large changes in their building budgets. Matt Linden, principal at McGraw School in Camden, told the board there are “no personnel changes” planned for McGraw but that previously separate pre-K lines have been consolidated into McGraw’s budget. Jen Cyr, principal at Wetherby, said budget increases reflect the arrival of a Grade 2 cohort and that personnel previously budgeted for a 3–5 configuration were adjusted for a 2–5 structure. Susan Thibaut, principal at Reedsbrook, described her building as “pretty flat funded” and said she had modest increases for field-trip transportation to support middle school connections. Angela Pratt, principal at Wagner Middle School, said projected enrollment declines (from 204 to 187) will allow a reduction of one teacher and a 50 percent staffing reduction in the physical education line while preserving the number of PE classes.
Hammond Academy principal Reg Rullen presented his school’s secondary budget, saying FY25 secondary spending was “just over $4,300,000” and FY26 is proposed at “just over $4.5 million,” a roughly $200,000 increase largely tied to salary and benefit obligations. Rullen said the proposed budget eliminates one science teaching position and includes roughly $16,000 for annual licensing and curriculum related to a new drone program; he said most of the drone hardware cost had been covered by a prior grant.
Administrators noted districtwide personnel are the largest share of the budget—about 80 percent of total spending—and the group emphasized careful “right sizing” of staffing based on enrollment. The district reported a negotiated health-insurance result with Anthem that the administration will reflect as a 10 percent rate in budget lines going forward; earlier estimates had ranged higher.
Board members asked about how the budget accounts for possible new housing and enrollment shifts. Administrators said they budget to known enrollments and will adjust future budgets if unanticipated move-ins require additional staffing. The board was told that some line-item percent changes reflect coding reclassifications rather than net personnel losses.
The board will review updated article sheets at a special budget workshop set for May 14 and a final board approval meeting the week of May 21; the district budget meeting is scheduled for June 5 with anticipated local votes thereafter.
