At a budget workshop, SAU 16 staff presented a draft fiscal-year 2027 spending plan for the Kensington School District that currently shows a 4.9 percent increase from the current year, driven primarily by rising health and dental costs and urgent repair and maintenance for the district's heating, ventilation and controls systems.

Renee (SAU 16 administrator) told the board the district faces a roughly $95,000 increase in health and dental premiums and that facility work on the building's control systems and boilers is a separate, looming expense. "We could probably find the money in this year's budget to go ahead and do the controls fix if you want us to," she said, describing the control system as the building's "nervous system" and the boilers as the "heart." (quotes taken from the meeting transcript)

Why it matters: staff said the control-management bids received so far range from $95,000 to $115,000 and that a full program of boiler and related repairs could push total repair-and-maintenance needs toward a conservative estimate of $250,000. The district has a facilities maintenance trust with about $80,000 on deposit; staff suggested using roughly $50,000 from the trust to help cover near-term work while preserving funds for other capital needs.

Most important details
- Draft budget increase: 4.9 percent (staff emphasized the figure could shift as items are finalized).
- Health and dental: staff identified a $95,000 delta that accounts for a significant portion of the increase.
- Controls bids and sequencing: staff advised repairing or replacing the building's control-management system first (bids $95,000'$115,000) and phasing boilers thereafter.
- Trust fund and budget strategy: the district has $80,000 in a capital-improvement trust; staff proposed using part of the trust plus reallocating unspent line items in the current fiscal year to fund immediate control-system repairs, and to spread larger boiler costs across future budgets.

Facilities and timing
Becky (Principal) and facilities staff said the control system is past its life expectancy and beginning to fail in ways that reduce efficiency. Two bids were on hand, and a third was pending; staff asked for board direction on whether to reallocate current-year funds to complete the controls repair now. They cautioned against fully depleting the trust fund, which is the district's fallback for unexpected capital needs such as roofing emergencies.

Open-enrollment and other contingencies
Staff also raised an emerging liability under a recent court decision often cited as the "Pittsfield" case that could require the district to pay tuition when resident students enroll in other districts. The district currently has a single dollar budgeted for open enrollment; staff suggested the board consider a warrant article or a new trust fund to hedge that risk.

Board direction and next steps
The board did not take a formal vote at the workshop. Board members signed off on the direction to continue developing the draft budget with the priorities discussed and asked staff to return in November with a detailed draft for presentation to voters. Staff said they would prepare scenarios showing the effect of using trust funds, reallocated current-year savings, and deferral strategies on next year's tax rate.

Context and background
Administrators referenced a 2016 facilities audit that guided prior capital planning and noted that components of the heating and control systems are roughly 30 years old. Staff also discussed longer-term grant options such as geothermal incentives but said matching funds and building condition remain material constraints.

What the board asked for
Board members requested clearer enrollment projections for kindergarten (letters are being returned from preschools and will inform whether a second kindergarten position is needed), a trend line of budget changes over five years for public presentation, and an explicit plan for how much of the trust fund the board would be willing to commit via a warrant article or one-time reallocation.

What comes next
Staff will return with a draft budget at the November meeting that reflects the board's priorities, including options for controls work this fiscal year and phased funding for boilers. The board plans to use the November packet and subsequent public-materials to explain to voters how much of the budget reflects statutory obligations, staffing choices and one-time capital work.