The Maine School Administrative District 75 School Board last week approved a $52.8 million spending proposal — a $3 million bump from the current budget.

District voters will get the chance to sign off on the proposal May 18 at Mt. Ararat High School.

The School Board approved the budget at a meeting on April 13. The budget would cover the coming fiscal year, from July 1 through June 30, 2024, requiring the district’s residents of Bowdoin, Bowdoinham, Harpswell, and Topsham to fund more than half the budget — $30.4 million. The school finance committee said the average annual tax increase per household would be around $227.

Salaries and benefits of school employees account for over 70% of the 2024 budget, which increases teachers’ salaries by 5.5%, education technicians by 10.3%, and groundskeepers/custodians by 8.5%.

The 2024 budget also accounts for a 23% increase in debt service because the district has to make its first principal payment of $900,000 on the $9 million school improvement bond approved last year.

Other increases include an 11.7% hike, or $387,332, for four new buses and three passenger vans used for special education and out-of-district transportation.

Bowdoinham resident Craig Caffrey told the board the tax hike would put a strain on senior citizens who already struggle to heat their homes and pay their mortgages.

Other residents favored the budget and applauded the School Board for supporting its staff and students.

“The overwhelming goal of this budget and this district is to serve all of our students with a quality education and to further district goals while being fiscally responsible to all the residents of the district,” said board Vice Chairperson Hutson Hayward. “I believe these are goals shared with the entire community, even when we may individually see the balance differently. Coming out of COVID and still mitigating learning loss while seeing federal support drawing down, I stand by the work of the Finance Committee, in concert with the superintendent and the administration, in endeavoring to provide students with vital educational support while developing creative solutions to find efficiencies and savings wherever possible.”

Starting July 1, Hayward will assume the role of chairperson, while Amy Spelke, of Topsham, will become vice chairperson and Brandy Robertson, of Bowdoin, will become an adviser to student School Board members.

For more information, visit link75.org.