A $43.8 million Regional School Unit 1 budget passed on Tuesday and will go to voters at the polls on June 11.
The budget represents a roughly $2 million increase over the current year’s $41.6 million budget. RSU 1 includes Bath, Arrowsic and Phippsburg.
Bath-area residents and the school board voted to spend $13.8 million on regular instruction, with costs increasing 6.24% over the current budget. Regular instruction includes salaries and benefits for teachers, supplies and other operating expenses. New expenses include the Credit Pathways Program and a teacher and education technician at Morse High School.
Phippsburg resident Shana Ferrara proposed an amendment for regular instruction to include the Phippsburg Boost position, an educational intervention used for students who aren’t far enough behind to qualify for higher levels of extra help in a subject they’re struggling with. It would have added $72,000 to the budget, but the proposal was ultimately voted down 23-20. About six to 10 students use the Boost Program at Phippsburg per year, according to the district.
“This was a position that was added with COVID money,” Ferrara said. “I am concerned that if the Boost program isn’t continued that students that do need additional help will continue to slide backwards without intervention.”
The school district voted to raise and appropriate $6.7 million in additional local funds that exceed the state’s essential programs and services, which unanimously passed.
Also approved were the salaries and benefits for special education, which increased to $7.5 million from the current $6.9 million.
The only decreased expenditure in the new budget was debt service at $6.5 million compared to the current $6.7 million.
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