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RSU 40 board raises FY26 proposed budget to $42.95M and restores Rams alternative program
Summary
The RSU 40/MSAD 40 school board voted to raise the FY26 proposed budget to $42,950,000 and to reinstate the Rams alternative middle-school program with two full-time teaching positions after extensive public testimony and board debate over cuts, reserves and tax impacts.
The RSU 40/MSAD 40 school board voted to set the districts FY26 proposed budget at $42,950,000 and reinstated the Rams alternative middle-school program with two full-time teaching positions.
Board members debated how to pay for the additions and how the change would affect town tax rates before the motion passed by recorded tally 578 to 311 (as recorded in the meeting transcript). Business staff provided a town-by-town example of tax impacts and suggested contingency and reserve options to handle unanticipated costs.
Why it mattered: supporters said Rams prevents students from "falling through the cracks," yields long-term savings by avoiding later interventions, and produces demonstrable social-emotional gains for participants; opponents and some board members urged clarity on which line items would be reduced or when fund-balance reserves would be used to cover the reinstatement.
Administrators and teachers described the Rams program as an experiential, small-class alternative for middle-grade students who struggle in traditional classrooms. "It's a smaller classroom; it was easier to be seen as a person," said Logan Grubb, a former Rams student testifying to how the program shaped his postsecondary plans. Josh Carpenter, a Rams teacher, told the board the district built the program to address dropout risk and that it has been in operation for years: "We started this program because we needed an alternative education model for our students."
The boards discussion included options for using the district's fund balance to create reserve accounts rather than making immediate, across-the-board cuts. Several board members asked administration to return at the next meeting with a transparent list of offsets or contingency uses that will fund the reinstatement and any other restored positions.
Next steps: administration was directed to report back with specific line-item changes or reserve-account proposals within about two weeks so the public can see which expenditures were adjusted to accommodate the increased budget.
