JAY — As the basketball season winds down in Regional School Unit 73, attention turns to the budget process, which began around Christmas break and is now entering its final stage: voter approval of next year’s spending plan.
In RSU 73, successful seasons for the Spruce Mountain High School girls’ and boys’ basketball teams has kept attention on the Phoenix players. Both teams are set to play Saturday, Feb. 21, for the southern Maine regional championships. Winners will advance to the state championships Feb. 28.
The RSU 73 board of directors is expected to begin deciding Thursday which spending items to increase, which to maintain and which to reduce or eliminate from the $26,838,393 budget that Superintendent Scott Albert has submitted.
Albert told the board it “needs a motion for a dollar amount” for the total budget at its meeting Thursday, Feb. 26.
“Then it’s up to us (the administration) to work out how to meet that figure,” he said.
This comes after a line‑by‑line review of the administration’s budget proposals at the board’s two most recent meetings.
The proposed budget represents an increase of $829,039, or 3.18 percent, over the current budget. That is almost identical to the 3.1 percent inflation rate for the Northeast and a bit more than the national rate of 2.7 percent.
Before Albert submitted the proposed spending plan, he cut $602,862, or 2.2 percent, from the requests department heads had submitted for 2026–27.
The largest of Albert’s cuts were to athletics and library books. He cut $20,000 from athletics and another $9,000 from the transportation budget for sports trips. He also cut $8,000 from book purchases, $2,000 at each of the four school libraries.
At RSU 73 board meetings on Feb. 5 and Feb. 12, directors mostly listened as department heads presented their line‑by‑line budget requests. But the proposed cuts to athletics drew reactions.
Director Elaine Fitzgerald of Jay said she was saddened that Spruce Mountain High School has no boys’ Alpine ski team. She suggested the school try to join a co‑op with other schools.
Participating via Zoom, Director Jodi Cordes of Jay questioned the rapid increases in athletics spending since 2024-25. Actual spending that year was $273,237, compared with a budget of $336,849 — about $24,000 under budget.
Athletic Director Marc Heller responded that the cost of hiring officials, who receive $100 a game plus travel expenses, has risen, as has the cost of game equipment, such as balls. He added that the district also had to buy a paint machine for the football field.
Still, the athletics budget, with the cuts made by the superintendent, would be down by $4,866, or 1.5 percent.
Fitzgerald also lamented the proposed cuts for books, saying the availability of up‑to‑date books is an important learning tool.
The largest single increase was $170,529 for transportation, and most of that jump was in drivers’ wages, which rose by $99,084. That increase is offset slightly by a projected decrease of $2,630 in drivers’ benefits.
Albert noted that the district is negotiating a contract with the drivers, so the total figure for wages — $629,620 — is a “placeholder” in the budget.
Insurance for vehicles is also projected to increase by $12,642, or 25 percent.
Plant operations are expected to rise by $13,080, or 3 percent, systemwide. That means Maintenance Director Wayne Neil had to find $32,714 in reductions to offset most of the $45,794 increase projected in custodians’ wages.
Other areas with increased spending include elementary administration ($35,000), middle school administration ($32,000), high school guidance ($49,000), elementary school salaries ($61,000), the middle school self‑contained program ($32,000) and the high school self‑contained program ($126,000). Self‑contained programs are special education classrooms.
Albert projected double‑digit percentage cuts in the middle school gifted and talented program ($16,000) and the high school gifted and talented program ($32,000).
The elementary school library would see a cut of $39,000, or 56 percent, and high school athletics would drop by $71,000, or 12 percent. Spending on the middle school behavior program would fall by $63,000, or 12 percent.
If the RSU 73 board decides on a final budget amount at its meeting next week, it will set a date for a districtwide meeting to vote on each budget line. After that, voters will decide the overall budget in a referendum.
