Residents of Jefferson voted to approve a revised education budget at a special town meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 1 at Jefferson Village School, marking the third attempt to pass an education budget for the 2026 fiscal year.
The revised budget totals $9,369,346.88, a decrease of $677,470.98 or 6.97% from the second version of the budget, which voters approved at a special town meeting on July 9 but failed to validate at the polls on Aug. 12 with a vote of 279-152.
The newest figure, which was approved by the Jefferson school and budget committees on Sept. 9, is the lowest proposed of the three drafts presented this year.
At the beginning of the Oct. 1 meeting, AOS 93 Superintendent Todd Sanders gave a presentation to explain the fluctuations in the different versions of the budget, saying that the main driver of the increases is the special education budget.
The special education budget totals $2,686,882.74, an increase of $688,149.11 or 34.43% from the previous year.
“We had a significant shortage of teachers and support staff in special education for the 2024-2025 school year,” Sanders said. “That necessitated us paying out-of-district tuition for students, special purpose tuitions, and hiring contracted service providers which cost much more than a certified teacher that we’ve hired ourselves.”
Sanders said that due to an increase in staff, more students were able to be educated at JVS leading to a reduction of $545,986.98 or 16.88% in the special education budget from the version the school committee approved in July.
Alpha Williams, a member of the budget committee, read from a prepared speech in opposition of the budget, noting the high cost.
“In the town of Windsor, a town of pretty equal size, has a budget of only $4.1 million, or the town of Chelsea only $3.2 million,” Williams said. “And we have a whopping $9.3 million budget. That, to me, is a huge red flag.”
Williams stated his opposition to the AOS structure and said that it is not sustainable and wants to see the town move into an RSU.
Jefferson is a member of AOS 93, which also includes Bristol, Nobleboro, and South Bristol. The towns of Bremen, Damariscotta, and Newcastle were also in the district before residents voted to withdraw and form RSU 48 ahead of the 2025-2026 school year.
“The AOS structure is not sustainable,” Williams said. “We as a town are overtaxing our residents, which hurts families, our elderly, and anyone who may be on a fixed income.”
Williams said if the members of the Jefferson School Committee agreed to form an exploratory committee to look into joining an RSU, he will support the proposed budget.
AOS 93 Director of Finance and Operations Peter Nielsen said the school committee already looked into the formation of an RSU in 2023 and determined it would not be a feasible option for Jefferson due to its geographic location.
“When we proposed the RSU at the end of 2023, it was clear to me that some of the towns in the peninsula might benefit from it financially based on the geography, but that would be very difficult for Jefferson to participate in based on geography and significant transportation issues,” Nielsen said.
Other options for the town, such as the creation of an education service center, are being explored, Nielsen said.
“This is all under investigation right now, and if anything comes of it that would be efficient, this could be the first thing we bring to the AOS board and to the Jefferson School Committee,” he said.
Jefferson resident Shawn St. Cyr asked about the teacher/student ratio in the classrooms.
According to JVS Principal Janet Delmar, the kindergarten class has 19 students divided between two teachers. Other grades show similar numbers.
St. Cyr made a motion to amend Article 2, to see what sum the town will authorized to expend for regular instruction, by reducing the figure by the amount of 1.4 teachers, saying that the number of student in each class was “slim”.
“Divided by two teachers, that’s eight a piece,” St. Cyr said in reference to the teacher/student ratio in the kindergarten class. “Eight is a pretty slim number.”
The motion was proposed for a reduction of $80,000 based on findings from Nielsen.
St. Cyr said the 1.4 figure came from his analysis of the number of classroom teachers and specialists, suggesting that 1.4 positions could be eliminated without negatively impacting instruction, and questioned whether some positions were being double counted in the budget.
“The gifted and talented is another lineup,” St. Cyr said. “It’s already accounted for in the budget.”
Nielsen said that the specialist positions, such as art and gifted and talented, are split between regular and special assignments, and are not double counted in the budget.
St. Cyr’s proposed amendment did not pass. All of the articles passed as written.
Compared to what voters approved in fiscal year 2025, the budget categories are as follows: regular instruction totals $3,437,892.65, an increase of $101,247.49 or 3.03%; special instruction totals $2,686,882.74, an increase of $688,149.11 or 34.43%; career and technical education is $100, the same as last year; other instruction is $43,202, a decrease of $4,900 or 10.19%; student and staff support is $435,752.08, a decrease of $32,837.46 or 7.01%; system administration is $284,804.43, an increase of $47,990.40 or 19.81%; school administration is $292,515.10, a decrease of $68,757.86 or 19.03%; transportation is $677,500.47, an increase of $153,975.49 or 29.41%; facilities and maintenance totals $664,747.97, a decrease of $55,461.43 or 7.7%; debt services is $783,949.44, a decrease of $19,564.44 or 2.43%; and food service totals $60,000, an increase of $10,000 or 20%.
Residents will consider whether to validate the budget from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4 during the referendum election at the Jefferson Fire Department. For more information, go to aos93.org/o/jvs or call 506-3044.
