Superintendent recommends middle tier (about 7%) for RSU 5 FY27 budget to preserve core programs, board presses for details

The RSU 5 superintendent told the board on Feb. 4 that a mid-tier budget — roughly a 7% increase over the status quo — offers the best balance between preserving classroom programs and responding to future needs such as early childhood services and facility investments. "In my view, this is the best move for us right now because it positions us the most strongly to respond to needs that will come up in the future," the superintendent said while reviewing three options the board requested in November.

The superintendent distinguished "necessary additions" from recommended items. He said the necessary additions — special-education placements that must move from reserves into the general fund, a full-time-equivalent speech-language pathologist and other items already approved by the board — total about $807,000. He also proposed targeted, mostly cost-neutral recommended additions, such as funding for a Moore Street summer program and a half-time transportation administrative assistant offset by central-office bookkeeping adjustments.

Board members asked detailed follow-up questions about where the proposed reductions would fall. The superintendent said many of the proposed staffing reductions in the recommended tier would affect general-education EdTech positions rather than special-education EdTechs, and noted the district currently has about 5.5 vacant special-education EdTech positions. "Those are not the same kind of positions that are recommended for reduction in tier 2 because those are general ed EdTech positions," he said, adding the district has vacancies staff could be redeployed into.

Members pressed for concrete mitigations if EdTech positions are cut. One member said cuts that remove two EdTechs at Freeport Middle School would amount to two-thirds of that school's general-EdTech staffing and asked for a blended option between tiers. Another asked for explicit impact statements and plans for how classroom teachers and administrators would deliver support if staffing is reduced. The superintendent acknowledged the losses would be "felt" but said the proposed reductions were the most appropriate choice given other options and the district's priorities.

The board also asked the superintendent to restate the district's class-size policy. He recited the thresholds: prekindergarten threshold 16 (by law); kindergarten through grade 2 target 18/threshold 20; grades 3–5 target 20/threshold 22; grades 6–8 target 21/threshold 24. He said the recommended tier would keep class sizes within policy at all grade levels.

Members also raised questions about the uncertainty of state funding while the Legislature considers the governor's budget. Assistant administrators said the ED279 form yields preliminary numbers and that state curtailment remains a risk — the district might need to avoid filling some open positions or call a special annual budget meeting if revenues are reduced later in the year.

Next steps: the superintendent will return next week with longer-term sustainability concepts, a local tax-impact comparison between the recommended budget and the status quo, and additional detail requested by board members about what positions would be kept versus cut under each tier.