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One-hundred-fifty Gray and New Gloucester voters gave preliminary approval to the Maine School Administrative District 15 budget for the 2026-27 school year on Thursday, May 23. The communities will vote on the budget as a warrant article on June 9.

This year’s district budget totaled about $39 million, an increase of 5.98% from the previous fiscal year. In a press release, Superintendent of Schools Chanda Turner said the increase was mostly due to contractual salary and benefit costs, as well as payments for an indoor air quality bond. The budget adds no new staff positions, and will eliminate two open positions and reduce one position.

Some of the more notable investments in this year’s budget include elementary and middle school level math and science instructional materials, replacement buses, continued facility improvements, and bus routing software. The software will allow families to monitor buses using GPS.

All but three articles at the meeting passed unanimously. Articles 15 and 18, which respectively authorized the budget as a whole and the expenditure of up to $700,000 from the district’s capital reserve fund, each passed with two voters in opposition. Article 14 was voted on by written ballot, and authorized the district to raise $7.3 million to cover funds not met by the state’s funding model. It passed 153-8.

In the press release, school board Chair Penny Collins thanked the community for supporting the budget, while Turner praised Gray-New Gloucester High School students for not only providing childcare for voting parents, but also, in some cases, participating in their first-ever school budget vote.

“Seeing the next generation step up and engage in the civic process is one of the most inspiring things we can witness as a community,” said Turner.

There will be a town-wide vote on the budget as part of the June 9 election. New Gloucester residents can vote in person at the town’s fire station, while Gray residents can vote in person at Newbegin Gym. Absentee ballots are available to residents of both towns until Thursday, June 4.