RSU 5 presents FY26 budget with 5.72% spending increase after proposed staff reductions

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 while also covering increases in insurance, fleet maintenance and capital needs. To offset costs the district proposes enrollment-driven reductions in staffing and to repurpose some reserve funds to cover one-time capital needs.

Key details

- Enrollment and staffing: Jean said the October 1, 2024 count was 1,997 (down 87 students from 2023) and noted a projected 2025–26 enrollment of 2,018; she added the district’s weekly check showed 2,001 students that Monday. Because of those declines, the administration proposed reducing roughly eight educator positions and five regular-education technicians, and not funding an open mechanic position. The presentation described which grades and schools the reductions would likely affect, and said many of the positions identified are currently vacant or would be managed through attrition.

- Net changes and priorities: the budget request bundles maintenance items (salaries and benefits), priority student supports (summer programming for Durham, Pownal and Freeport High School and an RTIB educational technician at Durham), and infrastructure investments (a life-safety capital plan, fleet and bus replacement, and increased maintenance). Specific asks mentioned in the presentation included $48,600 for an RTIB technician at Durham, $30,000 more for capital projects, $40,204 for increased fleet maintenance and a $163,662 implementation cost for a vehicle-replacement plan. Transportation operations (Article 8) showed a large percentage increase driven by lease and maintenance costs.

- Reserve accounts and one-time funding: administrators proposed using undesignated fund balance and existing reserve accounts to fund life-safety projects and other one-time needs. The presentation listed anticipated year-end reserve balances (for example, an anticipated $335,564 remaining in the special education reserve and $525,175 in the capital reserve after planned projects).

- Process and timeline: Jean outlined public meetings and school-level budget workshops in February and March, a public input session on March 19 and an anticipated adoption vote on March 26 followed by the district’s budget meeting in May and a validation referendum on June 10.

What board members said

Board member Kara asked for class-size projections with the proposed reductions; Jean replied that the figures shown reflected current staffing and that the administration would present class-size impacts after finalizing recommended reductions. Finance director Kelly guided the board to reserve-account detail and to the upcoming committee presentations.

Next steps

The board will receive school- and department-level presentations in February and March and will be asked to deliberate and vote on the budget later in the spring. Jean and Kelly flagged multiple public opportunities for review and said more detailed capital planning would be presented at the next meetings.