Preliminary numbers from Wiscasset School Department put next year’s spending at $9,595,155, a $599,879 hike; but projected increases in tuition and state aid, along with $472,736 in unspent funds, would limit the added hit to taxpayers to $141,609, Superintendent of Schools Heather Wilmot said March 23.

The school committee will determine how to use the unspent funds, but she has counted them as revenue which would help offset taxes, she added.

The committee got its first look at the budget draft and heard from administrators on it. Wiscasset Elementary School Principal Mona Schlein is seeking a second pre-kindergarten teacher as that program continues to grow. The need for another teacher does not depend on Wiscasset reaching a deal with Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit 12 for Alna and Westport Island students to get pre-K in Wiscasset, Wilmot said after the workshop held in the Wiscasset Middle High School library.

During the session, resident Constance Schumann cautioned against expecting those students. The district is in talks with Edgecomb about pre-K, too, Schumann noted. “The RSU superintendent is romancing both schools.”

Wilmot said another ad hoc committee meeting was planned with RSU representatives.  It so far appears most of the district pre-K students Wiscasset might attract would be from Alna, she said. Alna families have been calling and she’s been directing them to contact the RSU, because no deal has been reached.

In response to a school committee question, Facilities and Transportation Director John Merry said he does not expect to need a new bus he previously thought he might.  As travel for athletics declines, he thinks he can get by with the current fleet.

On the possible sixth grade move to WMHS next fall, Merry said so far he’s estimating about $18,000 in work on classrooms.

The draft also plugs in $69,500 toward the department’s energy project that faces a June town vote; and proposes adding $50,000 to the contingency or emergency account, bringing it to $100,000.

Wilmot is projecting $1,827,360 in state aid — up $121,316. Vice Chairman Glen Craig asked if the state formula could still change. It could, but she is keeping her fingers crossed it won’t, Wilmot said.

The panel plans another budget workshop at 5:30 p.m. April 10 in the WMHS library. Wilmot expects to know the department’s insurance premiums by then. She has figured in a nine percent hike. Under a new cap, the highest they will rise is 9.65 percent, Wilmot told the committee.