Kittery residents will consider a nearly $24 million school budget on June 9 when they vote on the school budget referendum ballot.

The total budget proposal reflects an increase of $563,100, or about 2.4%, and would raise taxes by an estimated 4.9%.

On April 27, the Town Council voted to send the proposal to voters after the school committee approved it in March. 

Here’s what the Kittery School District is asking voters to approve.

PROPOSED STAFFING REDUCTIONS, ADDITIONS

Several positions will be cut across the district’s three schools — Mitchell Primary, Shapleigh School and Traip Academy — if the budget is approved by voters.

“Any time there are cuts to staff, people are understandably concerned,” said Superintendent JoAnne Dowd in an email.

But those cuts helped to bring down the budget proposal’s spending increase from the 10.3% hike in the original, Dowd said.

A net of five positions overall would be lost, Dowd said. Reductions would include a fourth grade teacher, a middle school reading teacher, an interventionist, educational technicians and a world language position. 

Some positions, like the interventionist and middle school reading teacher, will not be filled following resignations or retirements, school board Chair Annie Cicero said. Others are being left unfilled after the current school year.

At the district level, the farm to table coordinator, a kitchen helper and other coordinators would be cut or combined.

“We did have to make some tough choices,” Cicero said.

The cuts would help to make budget room for personnel raises and account for the district’s shrinking student population. 

Finding areas where two people are doing half a job or where positions could be combined will also make the district more efficient, Cicero said.

“It is a lot of streamlining,” she said. “Just because it’s the way we’ve always done it doesn’t mean it’s the way we have to do it.”

The proposed reductions would also allow the district to add a couple new positions, including a middle school athletic director, a part-time pre-K and kindergarten cafeteria assistant and a librarian.

BUDGET DRIVERS INCLUDE RAISES, PARTNERSHIPS AND FEDERAL ASSISTANCE CUTS

Dowd and Cicero both cited a newly settled contract for staff as one of the main drivers of the budget increases. 

In the last year, the district agreed to raises for its Units A and C staff. Unit A includes teachers, guidance counselors and nurses, while Unit C covers educational technicians, office secretaries and cafeteria workers. 

Those negotiations resulted in staff receiving a 17% raise over the next three years. But those raises are only possible if the district saves money elsewhere — like cutting some positions.

“One thing that we’ve definitely been getting from the town is how much teacher pay and educator pay is a priority for them,” Cicero said. “They want our educators to be treated as valuable, respected professionals like they are.”

In terms of overall dollar amounts, the largest proposed increase is a nearly $721,000 hike for special instruction, which would see its budget raised to $5.5 million.

“The cost (of special education) right now is increasing at a greater rate than the federal government or state government is supplementing,” Cicero said.

Dowd added that special education has been underfunded previously, so the proposed increase is also partly course correction.

The district’s proximity to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard makes it hard to determine budgeting for specific costs like special education, Dowd said. Kittery’s population is relatively mobile, meaning many families come in and out during the year.

Another big increase in the proposed budget is a 28.2% boost for career and technical or vocational education. 

Kittery and other neighboring towns participate in a shared district cooperative with the Sanford Regional Technical Center. The program allows students to earn vocational and technical training while they are in school. This year, the proposed increase is significant due to a reorganization of how each district contributes to the program.

“Over the years, Sanford was picking up more and more of the financial burden because they house the technical center,” Cicero said. Participating schools felt the contribution system took advantage of Sanford and decided to rework the formula. 

Dowd added that Kittery contributes on a per-student basis. Participation in the program has dramatically increased over the last several years, which is reflected in the proposed budget.

One line item in the budget is new. Previously, no money was allocated for a cost labeled “School nutrition/Other.” This year, the budget is $62,000. 

In 2021, the state received funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help feed every child. The district was able to stretch that funding all the way through last year, but now that money has run dry, Dowd said, so Kittery is hoping to self-fund its school nutrition program.

“I’m really proud of our new nutrition program, of how they were able to utilize funds and grants to be able to keep that cost down as much as possible,” Cicero said.