June 28, 2026
Dear Wiscasset Schools Community,
On June 9th, the Town of Wiscasset approved our two School Safety Construction projects! That is wonderful news and means we will have new, secure entry vestibules at both buildings. These projects are a direct result of the Security Assessments at First Entry (SAFEs) for both the Wiscasset Elementary School and Wiscasset Middle-High School conducted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. This is a service I connected with through the Maine School Safety Center back in November, 2023. I invited Regional Protective Security Advisor Thomas “T.J.” Swenson Jr., LP.D. to tour our buildings and conduct the SAFE assessment. The primary result of his review and report was that we must secure our entryways. That report enabled us to apply for a School Revolving Renovation Fund project to address the situation, which we were approved for. There were multiple steps in between, but the final step was to have the voters of Wiscasset approve a 10 year municipal bond for the project, 35% of which will be forgiven by the state. I am so proud to announce this work will begin as soon as this fall! More information about these projects and how they will progress will come later on this summer.
There is challenging news as well - our school budget was rejected on June 9th. You may know some or all of the information I am about to share, but I want to summarize the budget process to date and then review what next steps look like.
Summary of budget process
Wiscasset has a two-step school budget process: first, a Special Town Meeting to adopt a school budget; second, a Budget Validation Referendum (BVR) by secret ballot. We need to pass both steps to adopt a budget.
On April 29th, the town approved an FY 27 budget of $11,217,742. This represented a 4.41% increase in expenses and an 8.01% increase in our request from local taxation over the 2026 budget.
On June 9th, the town rejected that budget, 547, no, to 535, yes, in the BVR vote. Please note that if a budget is not approved by July 1st, the budget adopted at the last Special Town Meeting goes into effect until a new budget is approved. When the budget failed, a clock went into effect that is dictated by statute. The School Committee must adopt a budget, sign a warrant, and deliver it to the Town Office by July 2nd in order to meet the timeline for our next Special Town Meeting: School Budget. Here is the complete budget revision schedule.
The School Committee met on Thursday, June 25th, where I presented them with a revised budget of $10,955,069. This budget included reductions of $236,104.25 from the April 29th budget. See a summary of these reductions here. At that meeting, the School Committee directed me to provide a budget that is flat with 2026. That would be $10,744,119 for expenses, an additional reduction of $210,950 in expenses from the original FY 27 budget adopted on April 29th. To achieve a flat request on local taxation, the reduction must include an additional $37,119 in cuts. These reductions will be presented and deliberated on Tuesday, June 30th, at 5pm in the WMHS library.
Next Steps
Tuesday, June 30, School Committee adopts revised budget
WMHS Library, 5pm
Tuesday, July 7, Wiscasset Select Board approves school budget warrant
Wiscasset Town Office, 6pm
Thursday, July 23, Special Town Meeting: School Budget
WMHS Gymnasium, 6pm
Budget Validation Referendum vote by secret ballot
Thursday or Friday, September 3rd or 4th
Wiscasset Community Center, polls open 8am - 8pm
date/time/place to be confirmed ASAP
Keep up with all our 2026-27 budget news on our website. Do not hesitate to reach out with questions or concerns - I can always be contacted by email or phone. In the meantime, the sun is shining and it is a brilliant Maine summer day. Enjoy!
Thank you,
Kim Andersson
Superintendent of Schools
kandersson@wiscassetschools.org
Office: 207-882-4104
Cell: 207-350-9928