LEWISTON — School Superintendent Bill Webster on Wednesday proposed a 2015-16 budget that would add 32 positions, mostly teachers and education technicians.

Those positions would reduce kindergarten class sizes and create more special education services, Webster said in an interview Wednesday.

He presented his $64.9 million spending plan to the School Committee on Wednesday night. The proposal includes a 6.1 percent increase over this year’s budget.

A chunk of the increase would be covered by a $2.3 million increase in state aid. Local taxpayers would be asked for $1.16 million. That would mean $81 more for a homeowner with a property valued at $150,000.

Webster’s proposal creates more slots in alternative education for students struggling in normal classrooms, and adds two part-time bus monitors to address student discipline and safety.

Spending on special education would rise a whopping $1.75 million. It is unavoidable, Webster said.

Like other Maine cities, the number of special ed students is growing. Lewiston has between 800 and 900. Of those, 100 are in expensive, out-of-district programs.

“In the last two years, we’ve had a 10 percent growth in special ed students,” Webster said. This fall, Lewiston will have 13 kindergarten students with autism, “more than we’ve ever had. If that rate continues, we would double students with autism over the next few years. It just shows it’s very difficult to stay out in front of this.”

Webster’s budget would hire 19.5 more special ed staff, including two teachers and 14 ed techs, to create more in-house programs, including autism services at Farwell Elementary and autism classrooms at Geiger, Lewiston Middle School and Lewiston High School.

“If we have to send one of these students out of district, it’s at least $50,000 a year,” Webster said. “With the right training and staff, we should be able to do it for $20,000 or less per student.”

In-house special ed programs created in the past year had growing pains, but overall have gone well, Webster said. “We’ve had good feedback from families. It’s easier to talk to families about integrating their son or daughter in the public school environment,” he said. “Ultimately, these students will be best prepared for life by being successful with their peers.”

Webster’s budget also proposes to hire 10 more staffers, including one teacher at Montello Elementary and seven ed techs districtwide, to reduce kindergarten class sizes.

The proposal does not show what salary increases would cost. The teachers’ contract expires in August, and negotiations are ongoing, Webster said. There are reserves in the budget in different places, but there is no specific number “pending the results of negotiations.”

Webster said he was concerned about the reaction of taxpayers, especially those who only look at the bottom line. Lewiston is challenged by the limited capacity of local taxpayers and the needs of students, Webster said.

Lewiston has a higher percentage of students from immigrant families and from poor families. Even if Webster’s budget recommendation passes, Lewiston would still have more than 30 elementary classes with 25 or more students, he said.

In the past five years, the mill rate for education has gone up little, not keeping pace with what state law expects. In 2009, Lewiston’s tax rate for education was $9.01 per $1,000 worth of property; in 2010 it was $9.02; in 2011, $8.97; in 2012, $8.91; in 2013, $8.91; and in 2014, $9.39.

In recent years “we’ve taken advantage of every opportunity to raise less money than what the state formula says we should be raising,” Webster said. “I got a call today from someone saying, ‘I don’t want my kid going to an ‘F’ school,’” he said, complaining that the school rankings were too simplistic.

What’s next: The Lewiston School Committee will hold budget meetings and public hearings before the May 12 public votes on the spending plan.