RSU 22 budget plan would eliminate health director role and trim nursing hours as enrollment drops

RSU 22 budget officials told the district’s budget committee that a sharp decline in enrollment is driving proposed staff cuts in the 2026–27 budget, including elimination of the director of health, wellness and safety and a reduction of 0.3 full-time equivalent nursing hours.

"I was notified in January, on January 8, that the position of director of health, wellness and safety was being eliminated for 2627," said Britney Russell, the district’s director of health, wellness and safety, in a detailed presentation to the committee. Russell described the scope of the health team’s work: during 133 days this school year the district logged about 9,613 health-office visits (about 72 per day), manages 99 emergency and individualized health plans, supports 79 students with acute-on-chronic diagnoses and administers 66 daily medications.

The proposed change would move the district’s nursing complement from roughly 4.3 FTE to 4.0 FTE and reduce nursing hours by 0.3 FTE (about one and a half days), Russell said. District staff said the reallocation aims to preserve full-time nursing coverage where student populations are largest while trimming total hours to reflect lower enrollment.

"This is where the rubber meets the road," Nick (committee presenter) told the board, explaining that the district expects to eliminate about 17.3 positions across the budget as enrollment falls. Committee members repeatedly asked staff to factor in the secondary costs of eliminating supervisory roles — for example, how much the district currently saves on substitute pay because a senior leader can cover absences without hiring an outside nurse.

Business-office staff gave year-to-date figures for nursing subs of $4,238.46 in wages and said the director’s salary line appears as $39,455 with roughly $14,003.53 estimated for insurance/benefits, but board members cautioned that substitute needs and the loss of centralized supervision could reduce net savings.

Several board members pressed for operational detail about how nurses would cover multiple buildings. District staff said the plan would likely preserve a full-time nurse at Hampden Academy (more than 700 students) and keep an existing split position at Winterport; remaining nurses and health aides would be reallocated to cover Reeds Brook, Weatherby and McGraw schools.

Russell, a registered nurse who has worked in the district since 2014, asked the committee to weigh the full range of services the health team provides — from individualized health plans and crisis response to field-trip medical oversight and staff training — when evaluating cuts. "The proposed reduction in nursing hours combined with the elimination of leadership and support will require others to step in and carry work that is essential to student safety," Russell said.

Committee members acknowledged the difficulty of the choices. "We can't take a step back and say, 'we feel badly' and not balance the budget," one member said, while another urged caution because the district still serves a high volume of health needs.

Alongside health staffing, the committee discussed other Article 5 adjustments: a librarian retirement will transition to a library ed-tech model making school libraries consistent across K–8, and a previously ESSER-funded 0.5 nursing position will not be renewed now that COVID funds have ended. District leaders estimated the net increase in Article 5 at roughly 0.96 percent, inclusive of collective bargaining and insurance placeholders.

The committee did not take a formal vote during the discussion. Members requested more detailed cost scenarios that include substitute-pay impacts and a clearer breakdown of which day-to-day supervisory responsibilities would be reallocated if the director role is eliminated. The budget process will continue through upcoming hearings and public meetings.