Voters in Maine School Administrative District 15, which covers Gray and New Gloucester, approved a revised school budget Tuesday, with 1,147 votes in favor and 815 votes against.

The vote, which took place just one day before the start of the school year, comes after the towns rejected the original budget proposal during June elections by a margin of just 19 votes. In the months since, the budget underwent significant revisions. The revised version reduced the spending increase from 5.93% to 4.79%. The total budget in the proposal is $34.9 million, a reduction of $379,636 from the previous budget.

In a press release, district Superintendent Chanda Turner said she was deeply grateful to the voters of Gray and New Gloucester, and that she was thrilled to be bringing students back to school with results that, “show our community believes in keeping students at the center of our work.”

School board Chair Penny Collins praised the high level of community engagement throughout the budget development process.

“The level of engagement we’ve had since the spring has been remarkable,” said Collins. “The number of new voices joining this process through emails, meeting attendance, and a packed validation meeting has been significant. Our community has shown that they care about our schools and are making time to be part of the process. Their approval allows us to move forward with confidence in supporting our educational mission.”

The revised budget will maintain added funding for a middle school special education teacher position, bus and van leases to maintain transportation services, cellular-based radios for buses to enhance safety and communication, and transportation software upgrades, among other improvements to facilities and capital projects.

The new budget will also carry over reductions from the previous iteration, including the elimination of 1.5 teacher positions at the high school, five educational technician positions, and .6 secretary positions, as well as cutting summer programming for general education students.