JAY — Directors of Regional School Unit 73 will vote Thursday on a proposed $26.07 million budget, of which 70% is salaries and benefits.

The board will meet at 6 p.m. at Spruce Mountain High School at 33 Community Drive in Jay.

Superintendent Scott Albert told directors March 6 that the budget is $1.43 million more than the $24.63 million approved last year. It’s a 5.82% increase that includes 13% more for health insurance premiums.

“We know 70% of this budget is salaries and benefits,” Albert said. “I do know it is kind of a shock.”

The spending plan does not include money to replace bleachers at the high school, he said. That will be a separate warrant article presented to voters from Jay, Livermore and Livermore Falls on April 10.

On Thursday, directors will vote on the budget lines, bleachers and the insurance reserve account, and warrants will be signed, Albert said. If the bleachers are approved by voters in a separate article April 10, the budget increase will be 5.99%, he said.

“We had put in the budget 13% for health insurance in the district,” he said. “We got a letter stating it could go as high as 17.5%.”

Directors and voters will be asked to create an insurance capital reserve account using $150,000 from remaining funds this year. That money would be available for insurance expenses in future years, if the increase is less than 17.5%. It will not raise taxes, he said.

If the budget is approved, assessments for the towns, including $66,000 for adult education, would be:

• Jay, $4.2 million, a 10.1% increase.

• Livermore, $3 million, a 12.7% increase.

• Livermore Falls, $2.8 million, a 12.5% increase.

Director Jodi Cordes of Jay noted the challenges with federal, state funding uncertainties and the loss of the paper mill in Jay affecting valuation.

“I completely support everything that this school is doing, but I’m fearful for the future unless we start really looking at some of these numbers,” she said. “I don’t want us to have to be at these tables cutting 25 positions because we got news of something. I would like us to start thinking strategically, thinking outside the box. How can we do things differently, and just asking questions.”

Some budget lines explained

“Regular instruction is up 4.18%,” Albert said. Most of the increase comes from salaries and benefits plus the new Family Medical Leave Act. The line item includes money for 27 teaching positions at the primary school and four regular education technician positions, 22 positions and one educational technician at the elementary school, 24.5 positions and half an educational technician at the middle school and 27.5 positions and 1.5 educational technicians at the high school.

Special education is up 9.42%. “We are adding one teacher,” he said. There are 19 teachers and 54 educational technicians, 46 of them in the budget and the other eight covered with federal money. There is also a social worker shared between primary and elementary schools just for special education students, he said.

There is a $50,000 increase in tuition for eight to 10 out-of-district placements, Albert said. “That is all covered in the Individualized Education Programs we have to follow by law,” he said.

Other instruction is up 10.87%, to $642,604 from $579,572. It includes athletics, sports trips and academic stipends for drama, chorus, band and other programs, Albert said. Of the $63,000 increase, $48,000 is for middle and high school athletics, which includes expenses for the new wrestling program at the high school, he said.

School administration is up 12.1%, mostly from salaries and benefits for secretaries and principals, Albert said. It also includes adding a dean of students at the primary and elementary schools, and increasing the pay for the dean at the middle school to be comparable.

Cordes asked if those were administrative positions.

“They are not officially administrative, because they don’t have certification,” Albert replied. “They can’t evaluate teachers, but they can deal with student behavior. If a kid needs to be brought to the office, they can help with that, some of the things you really shouldn’t be having secretaries do.”

“It does seem like a new position and the way that it’s put in — alleviating a secretary position, and bringing in technically two new positions, and then bringing up the middle school position — which is more than $100,000,” Cordes said.

Albert agreed the amount would be close to that, 1.5 positions would be added. That can be discussed, he noted.

Director Roger Moulton of Livermore Falls clarified the dean is basically an assistant principal without certification.

“That is why it’s called dean of students,” Albert said. “We can pay them at a much lower rate.”

On April 10, voters will meet at 6 p.m. at the high school to consider each budget line.

On April 29 voters will go to their town polling stations to consider one article approving the overall budget. Votes on the bleachers and whether to keep the current format of voting on the budget at the polls will be separate articles.