From the Superintendent
This is the second in a six-part series about the district budget, with this week's focus on how budgetary priorities are determined.
The district's budgetary priorities begin with the District Strategic Plan, to which the current plan was approved in 2018 but extended by the Board since 2021, when the plan was originally scheduled to be completed. The extensions resulted from the pandemic years when priorities had to be shifted away from much of the Strategic Plan, though we largely returned to this work by 2023. Strategic priorities generally fall within one of these four priority areas:
For example, one of the continuing priorities has been around safety and security, which aligns to Wellness: Foundation for Teaching & Learning. For FY 26, there is $99,200 set aside for interior and exterior bus cameras, behavioral threat assessments, cybersecurity, and a safety communication and notification program, all of which were endorsed by the Safety and Security Committee as furthering the district's safety planning as it relates to Wellness. Another item in the FY 26 budget is addressing an enrollment increase at GMS 6-8 over the last two years of nearly 60 students. Aligned to the priority area Every Student College and Career Ready, two classroom/content teacher positions were added to help keep class sizes at effective levels for student learning.
Of course, balancing new priorities with fixed costs, such as staff salaries/benefits, utilities, debt service, operations, and inflation (to name just a few) can be challenging. To put this in perspective, given the reality of fixed costs headed into FY 26, there was just over $1.5 million in requests that went unfunded. This is in addition to another $1.2 million in reductions to the FY 25 (current) operating budget. As we work through how and where to balance priorities, the Board's Finance Committee is an integral part of this process. Please see Finance Committee Chair Kim Vine's update included in this newsletter for more information about the budget. A reminder that this Thursday, May 8 @ 7:00 PM is the District Budget Meeting. All registered voters of the two towns are invited to attend and vote on the proposed 2025-26 district budget.
In case you missed it, here is part one of the district budget series: How budget priorities are determined.
Regards,
Jeff Porter
Congratulations to our five 2025 Employee of the Year finalists: Emily Banks-Moulton, Kristen Benoit, Eric Brown, Johna King, & Arianna Rothbart
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MSAD #51 Board of Directors Information
All meetings will take place at 6:00 pm in the Gyger Room at Greely High School. For those of you unfamiliar with that room, the Gyger Room can be accessed from the GHS parking lot (the side without the electronic sign).
May 8 - District Budget Meeting
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Budget Information 2025-26
Detailed budget information can be found on the District's website at: https://www.msad51.org/
Fiscal Year 2026
Hello all, the month of May is a time for proms, moms, and blossoms...which means it's easy to forget that it is also the month for finalizing the next fiscal year's budget! The finance committee has been working since January with Superintendent Porter and Finance Director Scott Poulin to create the Fiscal Year 2026 District Budget. From the beginning the Finance Committee relied heavily on both actual costs and trends from previous years to determine what reductions could be made, what expenses were fixed, and what increases could be reasonably projected given how many unknowns there are for the upcoming year. Here's an overview of the budget process so far:
- The District Leadership met with their respective departments and teams to discern what needs and requests were critical enough to be put forth as budget requests. The overwhelming majority of requests were, as has been the case for many years, directly related to increased enrollment and safety precautions.
- Superintendent Porter and Director Poulin prioritized the requests and presented them to the Finance Committee, who then, over the course of February, March, and April discussed, debated, and decided which requests to advance, and which to deny. The Committee spent much of that time also working to reduce existing costs.
- In addition, the FY26 Budget includes an increase of $3.14M in salaries and benefits (such as health insurance), per our Staff Collective Bargaining Agreements and Administrative contracts. This amount represents 82% of the entire budget increase. Other increases include rising costs in liability insurance, energy, and legal consultations.
- The total increase from FY25 to FY26 amounts to $3,577,014 or 7.12%. On April 17, after the District Public Hearing, the Board of Directors voted to approve this Budget.
But that's not the whole story....
The revenue that the district will receive in FY26 is also increasing. For those of you unfamiliar with the Budget Document, it lists expenses only. In order to calculate the tax impact on the towns of Cumberland and North Yarmouth, this revenue is then applied to the expenses. What remains gives both the net assessment as well as the per-pupil cost, which you can find on page 10 of the budget presentation from April 17.
What most of you want to know is how will this affect my taxes? Once the net assessment was shared with the Town Managers, the increases in the mil rate have been projected to be $0.86 (or 3.7%) for Cumberland and $0.38 (or 1.9%) for North Yarmouth. Remember that this is based on your assessed value of your property, NOT the market value of your home.
Now, it's up to all of you. This Thursday, May 8th, is our District Budget Meeting, at which time each of you have the opportunity to vote on each of the 11 Cost Centers that make up the budget. We ask you, as fellow community members and tax payers, to please familiarize yourself with the budget (you can visit our Budget Website to get caught up), and to then attend the meeting this week. This budget represents careful and thoughtful consideration to balance the needs of our classrooms with the reality of our community's financial obligations. We have worked hard to keep increases at a minimum, to maintain the highest possible percentage of expenses in the classrooms, and to be in-line with our neighboring districts who all have similar increases. We now bring this to you and ask that you, in return, participate in the process. You must be present in order to cast your vote!
As always, we are eager to answer any questions you may have. You can email Kim Vine, Chair of the Finance Committee, or any and all Board members. Thank you for trusting us with the governing of our schools. We are honored to be able to work with and for you.
The MSAD #51 Board of Directors
One Campus Project Information
For comprehensive information regarding the School Building Project, please visit the project page at: https://www.msad51.org/
Starting this week
Beginning this week, construction of the new maintenance building & turf field will begin. During this time construction vehicles will be primarily entering the campus from Tuttle Rd. Additional vehicles may also be entering from Main Street via Gyger Way. The Hutchins Field will be closed during the duration of this project. 
The image above is the turf field construction area.
The image above is the turf field fence layout during the duration of construction. The green line indicates the existing fence that will have “Danger Construction Area Do Not Enter” signs posted on them. The red line indicates the temporary fence that will be placed to safely secure the construction area. The blue line is a snow fence that will be placed as a buffer between the play area and construction area.
Community Partners
Our Community Partners are strong supporters of various areas of the school. Without them, our students would not have many of the wonderful opportunities and experiences that they receive.
Staff Appreciation Week!
Community Notices
Community Notices are not affiliated with MSAD #51. Please contact the organization directly with any questions. Here is a full listing of Community Notices.
Seeking Advice From Strangers
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