Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
RSU 5 presents FY26 budget with 5.72% spending increase after proposed staff reductions
Summary
Superintendent Jean presented a proposed FY26 operating budget that would increase overall expenditures by 5.72% after the district identified $1.2 million in staffing reductions tied to falling enrollment and added targeted investments in summer programming, capital projects and transportation.
Superintendent Jean presented RSU 5’s proposed fiscal year 2026 operating budget to the board on Jan. 22, forecasting a 5.72% increase in district expenditures after the administration identified a mix of program additions and staffing reductions.
The proposal, introduced at Freeport High School Library, follows an October 1 enrollment count of 1,997 students and a reported net decline of 87 students from the previous year, driven primarily by a fall of about 70 multilingual learners. Jean said the district was tracking 2,001 students as of the Monday before the meeting and projected 2,018 students for 2025–26.
The superintendent said the administration initially assembled a budget that would have raised spending by 8.47%, then reduced that figure through targeted cuts. “We are now with those reductions down to 5.72% increase,” Jean told the board.
Why it matters: the budget would fund ongoing salary and benefit increases from settled labor contracts…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
