Regional School District 15 board approves 2025–26 budget after $305,000 amendment

The Regional School District 15 Board of Education on April 7 approved a $3,611,017 increase for the 2025–26 school budget, a 4.14% year-over-year rise, following a motion to reduce the superintendent’s original proposal by $305,000. The board approved the amended figure and set a referendum for May 7.

Board members spent more than an hour debating where to trim the proposed increase, focusing on the district’s capital reserves, the special-education contingency, and one-time year-end expenditures. The amendment that passed reduced the proposed increase by $305,000 by (as described during the meeting) increasing expected nonoperating revenue projections, moving $75,000 of nonrecurring items to this year’s year-end funds, and reducing the special-education contingency by $100,000.

Why it matters: Board members repeatedly framed the vote as a balance between immediate taxpayer relief and protecting long-term district needs — roofs and other capital projects, class size and instructional staffing, and the…