RSU 1 board members cast their votes for the 2024-25 school budget at Morse High School Monday, May 6. Paul Bagnall / The Times Record

The Regional School Unit 1 Board of Directors on Monday night adopted a $43.8 million school budget for the next school year, a 5% increase from the current budget.

The new spending plan, passed by a 6-1 vote, includes the reinstatement of positions for a Credit Pathways teacher and educational technician, a librarian and a guidance counselor for Bath Middle School, a full-time nurse at Phippsburg Elementary School, two full-time elementary social workers, and a technology integrator for grades 6-12 for Bath Middle School, Woolwich Central School and Morse High School.

The positions were reinstated after public hearings in March and account for $447,290 in the school budget.

“It’s not an easy year,” said Bath resident Larry Bartlett at Monday’s meeting. “I understand that in terms of trying to predict what the best budget would be.”

The board rejected a trimmed-down version of the budget proposed by board member Jennifer Ritch-Smith that only included the full-time nurse at Phippsburg Elementary School.

A district budget meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on May 28 at the Morse High School auditorium with residents present to vote on each article before going to a budget validation referendum to the polling stations on June 11.