AOS 93 Board members Wayne Parlin (left) and Matthew Benner review a revised central office budget during a meeting Tuesday, Jan. 14. The proposed $1,094,247.32 budget will be considered by residents of Bristol, Jefferson, Nobleboro, and South Bristol on Wednesday, Jan. 22. (Piper Pavelich photo)
After rejecting a proposed version of the budget last month, Bristol, Jefferson, Nobleboro, and South Bristol voters will consider a revised and reduced AOS 93 central office budget of $1 million on Wednesday, Jan. 22.
During a meeting the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 14, the AOS 93 Board voted unanimously to propose a $1,094,247.32 budget, a decrease of $271,078.17 or 19.85% from last year.
The revision to the budget comes after voters rejected the district’s first proposed budget of $1,219,774.85 during a public vote on Dec. 18, 2024. The defeated budget represented a decrease of $145,550.65 or 10.66% from last year.
The difference between the two proposed budgets was achieved by removing the funding for the assistant special education director position, as well as reductions in expense lines such as business office clerk salaries and benefits and superintendent health insurance.
“I knew it was going to be tough,” said AOS 93 Superintendent Todd Sanders. “It’ll hurt, but I think we have what we need right now … We’re resilient, we’ll make it work.”
The current assistant special education director, Darcey Comeau, will remain in the position until the end of the fiscal year on Monday, June 30, Sanders said.
The board authorized Sanders and AOS 93 Business Manager Peter Nielsen to cut a minimum of $100,000 from the previously proposed budget during a meeting the evening of Jan. 8.
Sanders – who continued to advocate for leaving the initial budget intact – said during the Jan. 8 meeting that if reductions to the budget went beyond $30,000, cuts would appear in the form of central office positions.
“If we go beyond $30,000, it’s people,” Sanders said. “I do believe the board did their due diligence and came with a budget that is appropriate and is what we need to successfully run this district as we move forward into fiscal year ’26.”
Nielsen warned the board on Jan. 8 that “tightening” the budget could risk the district supplementing its fund balance, as any funds left over from the budget at the end of the fiscal year roll into the district’s unassigned fund balance.
“As you cut this thing closer to the bone … You’re not doing a service to your public cash fund. What you’re doing is saving a little bit of money to make the fund balance roll a little slower,” Nielsen said. “The tighter you get this, you’re not doing yourself a favor, whether it feels like it or not.”
AOS 93 Board member Wayne Parlin said on Jan. 8 that, despite the hardship that comes with reducing the budget, he feels voters want to see this kind of reduction.
“There’s no way I’m going back to another public vote when it’s pretty clear that the public’s not in favor,” said Parlin. “Keep in mind, there’s been large districts over the last couple of years all over the state that have not passed their school budgets, some of them two or three times. We haven’t experienced that here, but we just had a taste of it on Dec. 18, and I got the message.”
AOS 93 Superintendent Todd Sanders (left) explains revisions made to the central office budget to AOS 93 Board members June Donenfeld and Christian Cotz during a meeting Tuesday, Jan. 14. Revisions to the budget that was rejected by voters include the removal of the assistant special education director position, as well as cuts to the business office clerk salaries and benefits and superintendent health insurance lines. (Piper Pavelich photo)
While the total budget has been lowered once more, what member towns are responsible for contributing is still an increase from last year.
South Bristol will contribute $192,970.51, an increase of $118,146.09 or 157.89%; Bristol will contribute $305,295, an increase of $59,254.72 or 24.08%; Nobleboro will contribute $265,026.70, an increase of $71,363.51 or 36.85%; and Jefferson will contribute $330,955.10, an increase of $19,333.42 or 6.20%.
The board settled on a new cost-sharing formula on Dec. 10, 2024, dividing the budget in half to allocate it; 50% is spread amongst the four towns equally, and the remaining 50% is divided according to student enrollment.
The four AOS 93 board members representing Bristol, Jefferson, Nobleboro, and South Bristol, voted unanimously on Jan. 14 after little discussion to approve the warrant for the Jan. 22 budget meeting.
“It’s not something anybody wants to do, but that’s what the public, I believe, wants as a whole, in general,” Parlin said Jan. 14.
“Is it going to be rough? Yeah … It’s doable, it’s just rough doing it for the first year,” board member Matt Benner said.
The AOS 93 Board will have a special meeting to discuss a transportation contract on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 5:30 p.m. in the Nobleboro Central School gym, at 194 Center St.
The AOS 93 public budget vote will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 6 p.m. in the Nobleboro Central School gym.
