A 2.44% increase is predicted for the Wiscasset education budget, according to Wiscasset Schools Superintendent Kim Andersson’s budget presentation to the school board the evening of Tuesday, Feb. 13.

The 2025 budget is currently set at $10,560,002, an increase of $251,473.

Wiscasset School District’s subsidy, funding from the state, for the 2025 education budget is $2,216,728.74, a decrease of $338,300.73 or 13.24%. Andersson said this decrease can be attributed to the increase in property values, which totals $529,950,000 for the 2025 fiscal year, an increase of $38,550,000 or 7.27%

The amount Wiscasset taxpayers are required to raise for the 2025 education budget is $3,508,269. According to Andersson, if residents want to “make (the budget) work,” they need to raise an additional $3,222,505, for a total of $6,743,774. 

Multiple areas contribute to the potential budget’s increase, but Andersson said many of the budget’s increases are due to things that are being shifted to other areas of the budget.

A school counselor position at Wiscasset Elementary School will be replaced in the budget with a combination of two new positions, according to Andersson. A general education social worker will be added to the staff at the Wiscasset schools, and the assistant principal position at Wiscasset Middle High School will be eliminated and replaced with a district-wide assistant principal. 

The other instruction section of the education budget totals $378,581, an increase of $131,689 or 31.84% over last year. This change can be attributed to a new position, media center/tech integrator, at WMHS. This position will be occupied by a teacher and will help bring technology into the classrooms of WMHS. Andersson said the person she hopes will fill this position is already employed at the school.

The special education portion of the education budget totals $2,578,588, an increase of $215,039 or 9.11%. This increase can be attributed to salary increases, as well as the purchasing of instructional materials and professional training. Teacher salaries are increasing roughly 7%, according to Andersson.

The transportation section of the budget totals $732,603, an increase of $669,522 or 8.91%. This increase can be attributed to costs increasing to transport students to special purpose private schools, schools approved in as out-of-district placements to provide educational programming and crisis stabilization for students who are unable to access their education in a less restrictive setting, according to maine.gov.

The school board will likely vote on whether they would like to move forward with the budget or rework it at the next school board meeting, according to Andersson. If the board decides they would like to rework the budget before the next meeting, a workshop session may be scheduled for 6 p.m. on Feb. 27 in the WMHS library.

Andersson will present the budget to the Wiscasset Select Board on March 5 at 6 p.m. in the municipal building meeting room.

The school budget validation meeting is set for June 11, according to Andersson, with a time and location to be determined.

The next meeting of the Wiscasset School Board is at 6 p.m. on March 12 in the WMHS library.

This article appears through a content-sharing agreement with the Lincoln County News.