Bristol voters, after passing the municipal education budget without debate or significant opposition March 13, declined to validate the results in a March 20 referendum.
Maine law requires some municipalities to vote twice, by secret ballot, on the part of the budget that raises “additional local funds,” that is, the amount the local school committee recommends above what the state requires.
Bristol voters passed this part of the budget 88-8 at the annual town meeting March 13. The March 20 referendum posed exactly the same question and voters reversed themselves, 119-78.
The second vote, known as a validation vote, usually amounts to a formality, drawing little turnout and lopsided yes votes.
It’s unclear why voters rejected the question. Throughout the budget process, from early proposals to the annual town meeting, no one – citizen or official – publicly opposed the education budget.
A public pre-kindergarten program generated many questions, but no vocal resistance.
Central Lincoln County School System Superintendent Steve Bailey, in a phone interview early March 21, said the Bristol School Committee would review the budget and schedule another open town meeting, to be followed by another validation vote.
State law requires at least a 10-day interval between an unsuccessful validation vote and the open town meeting, Bailey said.
Bailey, speculating about the public shift apparent in the results, said some voters might have felt “we were trying to pull the wool over their eyes” with regards to the public pre-K program.
The budget article didn’t explicitly refer to the pre-K program, but the district and a series of articles in The Lincoln County News clearly stated that the education budget included funding for the program.
Bailey, Bristol Consolidated School Principal Jennifer Ribeiro and the Bristol School Committee met with the Bristol Budget Committee on Valentine’s Day.
The 12-member budget committee “grilled us” about the pre-K program, Bailey recalled, before unanimously recommending the education budget. “They certainly had full disclosure,” Bailey said.
The Bristol School Committee held a public workshop about the program – the most recent of several similar meetings and workshops – the week before annual town meeting, but almost no one came, Bailey said.
Finally, Bailey, Central Lincoln County School System Business Manager Kati Hunt, Bristol School Committee Chairman David Kolodin and Ribeiro came to the annual town meeting “ready for questions,” Bailey said, only to receive none and watch the budget pass without any debate.
“We’re still trying to figure that one out,” Bailey said.
Bailey said he would meet with Kolodin later in the day to discuss whether to call a special meeting of the Bristol School Committee. The committee typically meets on the first Wednesday of the month.