Auburn School Committee reviews athletics budget, discusses wrestling, unified basketball and storage needs

Todd Simpson, staff member, presented the Auburn School Department's athletics budget as part of the FY26 operating-budget review on March 19, 2025, focusing on stipends, officials, rental fees and equipment needs across high-school programs.

The presentation opened with a seasonal update: "They completed the season undefeated," Simpson said of the unified basketball team. He then reviewed per-sport cost-per-participant figures and noted the budget assumes a 3% stipend increase in anticipation of a contract settlement.

Simpson said the budget includes officials and scorekeeper fees required by the Maine Principals' Association for varsity and junior-varsity competition, expenses for scheduling and registration software (formerly FamilyID, now Arbiter), and expected incidentals such as porta-potties and police coverage for larger events. He told the committee the district is continuing efforts to secure an athletic trainer and that the projected trainer budget figure is a "best guess" developed with business manager Amanda Kuchar.

Committee members pressed Simpson for clarification on several points. He confirmed the repair-and-maintenance line should read $5,500 (not $55,000 as displayed on one slide). He said the varsity wrestling program is at the end of a two-year self-funded probationary period and that the FY26 budget includes roughly $1,600 to cover officials, timers and scoreboard operators for about three home matches because many operations are now handled by the Auburn Wrestling Club. Simpson said he and district leadership expect the policy committee to review the program's policy language and evaluation timeline so the budget cycle aligns with the program's review.

On shared teams and cost-splitting, Simpson said the district had negotiated cost savings through partnerships: Lewiston covered the varsity swim stipend this year while Auburn covered the assistant stipends; MSAD 52 (Leavitt area) provided transportation to away swim meets; and Poland and Saint Dom's covered swim officials. He described cooperative arrangements as an important factor in controlling costs for sports such as hockey and swimming.

Adam Platt, city council representative, questioned arena-ice rates and whether Auburn is getting a market-rate agreement for ice time. Simpson said he believes the Norway Savings Bank arena rates are competitive in the area.

The committee and Simpson discussed participation trends and recruiting. Simpson and other speakers noted statewide declines in some girls' participation and described planned outreach such as guest speakers and feeder programs to increase female participation in athletics. Simpson pointed to recent new programs (for example, varsity volleyball) and the reopening of the high-school tennis courts as opportunities to grow participation.

Several board members raised storage and equipment maintenance concerns for the new and upgraded athletic facilities. Simpson and Kuchar said storage remains constrained at the high-school complex and that the district is discussing a storage building and other seasonal storage solutions with maintenance and public-works staff; they flagged pole-vault and high-jump landing mats as expensive items that require dry, secure storage.

The presentation closed with committee questions about booster support and the role of volunteer groups. Simpson praised the Edward Little grandstand/booster organization for providing materials, scholarships and event staffing and described boosters as an important community partner.

Ending: The presentation was informational; no committee vote on the athletics budget portion was recorded at the March 19 meeting. The full FY26 operating budget review continued with subsequent cost-center presentations.