BATH

Voters from the four RSU 1 communities overwhelmingly approved a nearly $29 million school budget on Tuesday.

The 2017-18 budget marks a 2.53 percent increase over the previous year. Most of that increase is made up of additional local contributions, to the tune of $664,281 of a total $714,871 increase.

State contributions and other miscellaneous sources account for close to $10 million, with the municipalities making up RSU 1 accounting for the nearly $18 million remaining.

The towns in RSU 1 include Arrowsic, Bath, Phippsburg and Woolwich. Georgetown and West Bath students who attend RSU 1 schools pay on a per student tuition basis.

Though Bath continues to pay the brunt of the district’s local contribution, Arrowsic will actually see the greatest tax increase over the 2016-17 budget, at 7.16 percent, despite seeing nearly no enrollment increase in the next year.

Bath, Phippsburg and Woolwich will see tax increases of 3.73 percent, 3.38 percent and 4.24 percent, respectively.

Much of that increase comes in the form of four added ed tech positions for special education, as well as the addition of a study hall monitor at Morse High School to support proficiency based learning.

Another factor driving the spending increase in the budget is an additional $150,000 in food services, which is a 166.67 percent increase over the previous year.

nstrout@timesrecord.com