Proposed job cuts were one of the leading topics of discussion Monday night at a Kennebunk-area school district public forum on the proposed budget.

The budget, which carries a $64.7 million price tag, includes an average tax increase of roughly 5%. While exact increases differ in each town, Superintendent Martin Grimm said the budget totals about $300,000 less than last year’s.

Last year, Regional School Unit 21’s budget was rejected twice by voters in Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel before a pared-back version was approved on the third try.

Here are our three takeaways from Monday night’s forum.

Concerns over proposed cuts

The handful of people who spoke at the forum shared similar concerns, mainly about the few positions at risk of being cut.

Jessica Rosado, who teaches English as a second language at Kennebunk Elementary School, spoke out against a proposal to reduce the number of multilingual learning teachers from four to three.

“Reducing ESL teacher staffing will negatively impact students and negatively impact their learning,” Rosado said.

While the school board used student-to-teacher ratios to gauge possible changes, Rosado said the number of instructors should be a reflection of students’ needs.

“Based on student needs across the six schools of our district, reducing ESL staff from four teachers to three district teachers would not meet the needs of multilingual learners,” she said.

Initially, the budget proposed cutting two of those four positions.

Grimm said the RSU 21 leaders had felt that the student-to-teacher ratio, around 8.5-to-1, indicated an ability to consolidate without putting the quality of education at risk.

But Grimm said the school board later realized three teachers would better suit student needs, and that the change would not increase the budget’s price point.

A new website, coming soon

Assistant Superintendent Paul Rasmussen unveiled a new website that will be a resource for residents in search of budget information.

The website will include summaries of the budget proposal, as well as outlines dedicated to explaining what different parts of the budget refer to and who in the school community will be affected by certain elements of the budget.

One section will dedicated entirely to frequently asked questions, while another is aimed at parent-specific information.

The website is still a work in progress, Rasmussen said. RSU 21 plans to send more information about it to families this week.

Quiet turnout

Only three people spoke during the budget portion of Monday’s meeting.

In addition to discussion of job cuts, their concerns revolved around state-provided special education funding, as well as a rumor about the potential elimination of programs for students with disabilities.

Grimm said that rumor is untrue.

“I can categorically say that we’re not eliminating any of those programs,” he said. “We couldn’t — if we could, we wouldn’t.”