Dorchester School District 2 seeks 7.6-mill increase to fund teacher raises and cover new mandates

Dorchester School District 2 officials on Tuesday presented a proposed FY2026 general fund budget that would increase expenditures to $295,960,702 and include a request to Dorchester County Council for a 7.6-mill operating increase to help fund teacher raises and cover mandated cost increases.

The presentation, given during a required public hearing, laid out revenues of $292,707,546 for FY2026 — roughly $8.6 million more than FY2025 projections — and an expenditure increase of about $7.2 million. Miss Meunier, who led the presentation, said the district must adopt a budget by June 30 for taxing purposes and is monitoring state budget negotiations, including a conference committee meeting the day after the hearing that could change available state revenue.

The budget package prioritizes student achievement and teacher quality, officials said. "Student achievement is number 1 focus," Miss Meunier said, and the proposal emphasizes recruitment and retention through salary adjustments. Mr. Dougherty, the presentation speaker who reviewed payroll and staffing figures, said the district plans to reallocate savings from staffing changes — estimated at about $5.1 million from reducing roughly 54 positions districtwide — toward teacher compensation and other priorities.

The presentation included several salary scenarios: a $1,500 across‑the‑board increase that would raise starting teacher pay to $50,500; an additional $500 to all steps to reach $51,000; and an aspirational $52,000 starting level discussed but not included in the formal ask. Officials said the incremental package that the district is asking county council to support would require additional mills (estimates discussed ranged from about 4.9 to 7.6 mills depending on the scope of increases).

Officials also identified mandated cost increases the district expects to cover, including an employer health-insurance rise (about $400,000), a potential parental‑leave mandate up to 12 weeks (estimated up to $600,000), contracted SRO increases (about $80,000), estimated energy cost increases (about $250,000) and higher maintenance expenses (about $500,000). Mr. Dougherty described these as mandates or likely mandates that add roughly $3.1 million in new costs the district must absorb.

Miss Meunier summarized the district's fiscal picture: "We would need $3,200,000 as a millage increase, which ... equates to the 7.6 mills," and staff provided a mill-value calculation showing one mill in Dorchester School District 2 equals $432,743. Using the district example, officials estimated the 7.6-mill increase would raise taxes by about $228 annually for a business with an assessed value of $500,000.

Officials emphasized that the district did not eliminate programming and that instructional supports (fine arts, special education, content specialists, instructional technology staff) remain part of the budget requests, though some positions funded in the general fund would be removed while others would be added to support priorities.

Board members and staff also noted uncertainty tied to the state budget process and said the district is awaiting final reconciled figures and the governor's signature before revenues are certain. There was no formal vote on the millage request at the hearing; the presentation is intended to inform the board and the public ahead of a future board action and county-council deliberations.

The district's next procedural steps, as described in the presentation, are to await final state budget action from the conference committee, to continue coordination with Dorchester County Council on the millage request, and to return for a formal board vote on the FY2026 budget at a later scheduled meeting.