Superintendent Clay Gleason told RSU 06 voters the district’s budget choices reflect declining enrollment, staffing adjustments and sharply higher benefits costs.

Gleason said the district has “about 300 more fewer kids than we did 10 years ago,” and that the administration reduced six instructional positions and one mechanic in the proposed budget. He said high school enrollment has fallen below 1,000 students for the first time in memory and that the administration expects enrollment to stabilize “right about a thousand for the next few years.”

On staffing and class size, Gleason reported average class sizes of 16.7 districtwide in elementary grades, about 20 per homeroom at the middle school, and departmental averages of 15 to 18 at the high school after the proposed reductions. He said the district now attracts and retains more candidates after recent salary adjustments, noting, “Three years ago, we were losing people out the door to neighboring districts. We did not pay a competitive wage… We are not having that problem anymore.”

Gleason emphasized benefits as a major driver: “80% of our budget is our people, that's approximately $1,000,000 each year. So in the last 2 years we added $2,000,000 just for health insurance costs.” He said the district will try to “shop it out” but noted collective bargaining constraints.

Ending: The superintendent presented staffing and benefits changes as part of the district’s effort to match personnel levels to enrollment trends while maintaining instructional coverage.