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RSU 05 superintendent recommends middle-tier 7% budget amid enrollment decline; staffing cuts targeted to secondary schools
Summary
Superintendent Gray presented three budget tiers for 2026–27 and recommended a middle option (about 7%) that reduces some staff positions—focused mainly at middle and high school levels—while preserving core elementary class sizes and special-education services.
Superintendent Gray on Wednesday presented a three-tier proposed 2026–27 budget to the RSU 05 board, recommending the middle option (about a 7% increase) as the best balance to preserve core programs while addressing rising fixed costs.
Gray said a status-quo budget would be “just over 10%” and stressed staffing accounts for roughly 80% of district spending, so achieving lower increases requires strategic reductions. The superintendent outlined $807,000 in items the board has already voted to carry forward and $154,818 in recommended additions that administrators believe are important to sustain programming.
Gray described three tiers the board requested in November — roughly 6%, 7% and 8% — but said the figures presented are slightly under those…
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