Superintendent unveils $39.2 million FY27 budget; referendum to include land purchase

Carrie Medd, superintendent of schools, presented RSU 52/MSAD 52proposed fiscal year 2027 budget, saying the plan totals $39,181,450, a 4.86% increase over FY26.

Medd said the districtis spending $18,816 per pupil compared with a state average of $21,700 and noted enrollment growth since 2017, with the district at 2,023 students this year. "We're spending 18,816, which is pretty much in line with what those communities around us are spending," she said.

The superintendent said the budget reflects a mix of new revenues and rising costs: the district received just over $1,000,000 in increased state subsidy, but staff health insurance rose 11.43%, adding almost $700,000 to costs. She also warned that a state law change reduced adult-education subsidy, producing a loss she cited alternately as $597,000 and $590,000 while presenting; the district described the loss as roughly $590,000.

Medd outlined school-level staffing changes intended to match student needs. At Green, a sixth-grade teacher will be shifted to special education and one EdTech 2 in special education will be added; the district described those shifts as cost-neutral. Turner Primary will eliminate a grade-2 teacher and an open EdTech 3 and use those funds to create an intervention teacher, a move Medd said would save about $20,000 and provide more-consistent early-grade math and reading supports. Turner Elementary will add a special-education teacher and three EdTech 3 positions. Leeds will continue a special-education nurse added this year.

At the high school, a retiring tech-ed teacher position will be provided through a contract with LRTC so an instructor can pursue a CTE certificate via that pathway; the budget also adds a science teacher and a social-studies teacher as high-school enrollment is projected to top 600 students next year. Medd described LRTC as the districtcareer-technical program to which some students are assigned; the districtsaid its share of LRTC costs rose by $5,000.

Transportation costs are rising because the district has been unable to hire enough bus drivers, Medd said, and the budget increases contracted transportation for routes and special-education out-of-district placements; two bus-driver positions were eliminated to partially offset those contracted costs.

The board used fund balance to finish a wastewater treatment plant project, covering roughly $400,000 so the district avoided a new loan; the district also used its facilities reserve to cover about $390,000 in minor capital repairs (examples cited included a Turner Primary water-tank replacement, fencing at Green Central, door repairs and high-school auditorium lighting and sprinkler work).

Medd said the budget adds a reserve toward purchasing about 18 acres across from Turner Primary School and Jimmy's General Store to create athletic fields and a transportation yard. Athletics-related costs are increasing because of high participation (track, football), bringing lacrosse fully into the budget, adding coaches and replacing failed equipment such as an athletic-trainer cart. The middle school will add an expansion boysbasketball team and a unified coordinator; the budget also adds stipends for high-school and middle-school robotics advisors.

Instructional and payroll items include $33,000 for new K'2 math materials, a $48,000 increase tied to the paid-family-leave payroll tax now applied to teachers, and other instruction increases driven mainly by special-education costs. Medd said the district moved one full instructional coach and part of another into Title I funding and eliminated two Title I EdTech positions, along with an open district custodian role and an open intervention EdTech position, as part of budget balancing; the presentation listed a net reduction totaling $235,005.63.

Medd described budget composition, saying more than 75% of the proposed budget goes directly to schools (regular instruction, special education, CTE, extracurriculars, student and staff supports and school administration) while transportation, facilities and adult education represent support services. She explained that increases paid by each town vary with state-assessed property valuation, giving town-level valuation increases: Green 6.87%, Leeds 5.03% and Turner 2.48% (a 4.4% average).

Medd directed listeners to the district budget page for details and announced two upcoming public actions: a district budget meeting on Thursday, May 7 at 6:00 p.m. in the high-school auditorium, and the budget validation referendum on Thursday, May 22 (1:00p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at town offices). She said the May 22 ballot will include both the budget and a separate question to approve the proposed land purchase.

The presentation contained a mix of stated figures and brief numerical inconsistencies (Medd cited both $597,000 and $590,000 for the adult-education subsidy loss in the same presentation); the district provided the figures as reported in the presentation. For more detail the superintendent invited community members to review the published budget materials and contact district offices with questions.