The budget offer Wiscasset's school committee nodded Sept. 10 cuts $105,046 in costs from the one that failed at the polls Sept. 1. And it takes $600,000 from the undesignated fund balance instead of $500,000.

Gone would be a half-time social worker job and a full-time special education teacher job Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kim Andersson said are both vacant. The committee added $6,635 in field trips.

"I don't know where else we can cut," Chair Tracey Whitney said.

"We can't," member Doug Merrill said. "There comes a point where your system will implode."

"Right, there's nothing else," Whitney said. "I think that at this point, if this fails, we just keep presenting what we've done." And they plan to highlight to residents the lower local ask; and keep sharing about recent progress in the schools, including securing both the support staff and teachers' contracts, and students' responding well to clear expectations on rules at Wiscasset Middle High School.

Member Christopher Hart said, "I understand a number of teachers ... were (considering) whether to come back this year or not. And when the contracts came out, they said they're staying." Continuity's important, Vice Chair John Merry said.

The budget offer goes to a special town meeting planned for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29 at WMHS. The budget that results goes to a final vote at the polls Nov. 3. Besides the Sept. 1 offer, voters also rejected one in June. The second one cut three educational technician jobs through attrition and pared part of health insurance costs due to a smaller than projected hike in those.

The local ask under this third budget try is down $176,691 from 2025-26, or 2.54%. The budget voters rejected in June would have hiked the local ask about 8%; the second try's local ask was about flat with last year's. 

"This is a good budget," Merrill said in the Sept. 10 meeting that followed that afternoon's budget workshop. "I think we’ve done a really good job.You and your admin teams have put together real numbers," Merrill told Andersson. "I’m just nervous … I’m afraid we’re going to end up like Boothbay with buildings falling down around us if we’re not careful. We have to spend money where it’s required.”

Andersson said she’d liked this year’s first budget offer. “It was a comfortable budget and it covered everything and we didn’t have to sweat. But we’re going to sweat this one,” she said. “We’re going to sweat.”

Members voiced some concern over the offer's taking another $100,000 from the undesignated fund balance, leaving that much less to tap to offset taxes the following year. "Unfortunately now this has set us up for when we do (the 2027-28 budget), it’s going to look astronomical,” Whitney said. 

They can’t be afraid to freeze the budget if necessary, Merry said.  He recalled it happening four or five years straight. They'll have to, Merrill said. "Because you can't go down. There's no place to go."

The committee passed the budget offer 4-0.