RSU 18 superintendent presents FY27 draft budget with 3.95% increase, proposes two student-support positions

Superintendent Ben presented the RSU 18 school districtproposed FY27 budget, a first draft that would increase the districtbudget by 3.95% (about $1.8 million), at the board meeting. The presentation framed the proposal as a status-quo staffing plan with two targeted additions and several line-item reductions.

The budget presentation emphasized that salary and benefits make up roughly 78% of district spending and are the primary drivers of the proposed increase. The administration proposed two new positions: a dean of students at Mesolonsky Middle School and a full-time school counselor at China Middle School. The two positions together add about $243,000 before offsets; administrators said they would reassign or eliminate other lines (including a vacated alternative-education teaching position and a retired administratoroffset) to partially fund the hires.

Board members and administrators discussed operational reductions the administration said it had already made (cuts to professional services, supplies and fuel), and highlighted recent improvements such as the food-service enterprise returning to full self-sufficiency and increased interest earnings from a bank sweep account. The superintendent said the draft uses $800,000 of fund balance in FY27 and projected tax impacts for a $100,000 home across member towns, with a sample $22.81 impact in Belgrade and higher per-town impacts in others.

Several board members asked for further details and analysis before approving the budget. Member Andy and others asked for a transparent breakdown of allocated versus unallocated fund balances and recommended a short presentation at the next meeting on what each reserve is for and how much it holds; members also requested pro forma projections for FY28 and FY29 to show how ongoing contract negotiations and future collective-bargaining agreements would affect multi-year sustainability. Member Mac and others stressed that teacher salary increases (recently negotiated) are a known, large driver and cautioned the board against attempting to reduce headcount to reach targets.

The superintendent said health-insurance cost changes are still uncertain, with the benefits-trust vote expected in late March or early April; the administration used a conservative 10% contingency in early plans but said the final number may be lower. The board did not vote on the budget; members asked administrators to provide the requested fund-balance detail and line-item follow-ups before the next meeting.

RSU 18 will post the budget documents and the superintendent said he welcomed emailed questions so staff can prepare targeted answers at the next session.