Sippican School’s proposed budget for next year is $6,058,909—a $129,800 increase from last year.

Part of the 2.19 percent increase is in relation to Bristol County Agricultural High School. Sippican School pays Bristol Aggie when town students choose to attend that school instead of staying in the Old Rochester district, in a manner identical to school choice. The home school district pays the tuition of students choosing to attend outside school.

The Sippican School Committee estimated that the school will have to pay for three students in the next year, instead of two, as was the case last year. The tuition for a third student will cost an extra $20,600.

The school will also add a technology teacher, which will add an additional $26,659 to the budget.

“We’re trying to be in line with our initiative for [science, technology, engineering and math] within the district,” Business Manager Patrick Spencer said. “I think it’ll be a value to our students.”

The biggest savings in the budget are in Project Grow. The School Committee is saving  $33,728, a 29 percent decrease from the previous year. The reason? A previous Project Grow teacher retired, and the replacement hired will begin at a lower salary.

There is also a decrease of 33.76 percent in the amount of spending on special education cases. According to Spencer, the special education funding amounts are fluid in the budget from year to year. The money set aside for special education, he explained, is based on individual needs and changing plans as students age. It is expected that in the next year, there will be fewer students needing special education instruction, and the budget has been lowered accordingly.