After Bristol residents voted down the education budget during the annual town meeting, the budget and school committees are disagreeing on the revised proposal residents will consider next week.
The updated education budget was unanimously accepted by Bristol School Committee on April 10 and rejected by the Bristol Budget Committee 6-4 on April 13.
The updated budget totals $8,300,173.76, an increase of $128,788.23 or 1.58% from last year’s budget. The new proposal is a decrease of $58,957.20 or 0.70% from the $8,359,130.96 budget voters failed to pass in March.
Bristol taxpayers will be responsible for $7,269,808.30, an increase of $239,917.49 or 3.41% from last year.
Residents, budget committee members, and school committee members spent over two hours at the March 17 annual town meeting discussing the education budget, particularly Article 40 regarding the $332,360.94 system administration line, an increase $97,094.74 or 41.27%.
Housed within the line are the funds for Bristol’s assessment for the superintendent and executive director positions within Johns Bay Coastal Alliance Education Service Center. As of July 1, Bristol and South Bristol will withdraw from AOS 93 to form a two-town education service center.
The Bristol Budget Committee unanimously voted against recommending the system administration line, citing a high cost compared to the size of the student body at Bristol Consolidated School.
After Article 40 was not approved by voters, a motion was made not to consider Articles 47 and 48, which covered raising and appropriating the total cost of the budget. The motion passed, and the final cost of the budget was not considered.
An updated budget was approved by the school committee following a budget workshop on Thursday, April 2 but had to be revised as it proposed changes to the cost center for school administration, which was already approved by voters at the town meeting.
Savings were reflected in the salaries for the Johns Bay superintendent and executive director, with each coming in $5,000 below the amount originally budgeted. According to AOS 93 Executive Director of Finance and Special Services Peter Nielsen, the lower salaries, along with the superintendent and executive director selecting full family health insurance, created about $20,000 in overall savings for the education service center as a whole.
Nielsen, who will become the executive director of Johns Bay Coastal Alliance Education Service Center on July 1, said the cost center was changed back to the amount the town voted on under the advisement of Bristol town attorney Dan Stockford.
The sole change to the budget is now in system administration, which totals $273,403.74, a decrease of $58,957.20 or 19.46% from the previous budget and an increase of $38,137.54 or 16.21% from last year’s budget.
Nielsen said the decrease came from a reduction in the scope of the role for the unfilled executive system administration position. According to Nielsen, the central office staff for Johns Bay Coastal Alliance Education Service Center reviewed the work the position covered and determined that many of the tasks could be redistributed to the business office team and other existing staff.
“That is a position that’s always existed in the AOS,” Nielsen said. “It pretty much exists in every school administrative unit, and in the AOS, the person has just left that has held that position for somewhere 15 years, and it evolved over time to balance out different pieces of the organization where that person could add value.”
The required tasks will now be performed by the executive director and finance clerk on a rhythmic, as-needed basis throughout the year rather than through a dedicated full-time role, Nielsen said.
During a meeting with the budget committee, school committee, and select board on Monday, April 13, budget committee members said having both a superintendent and an executive director for a school Bristol’s size is excessive.
Budget committee Vice Chair Julian “Jef” Howell said there was no transparency in the hiring process for the two positions, and felt the town was left out of the decision-making process.
“You entered into a contract and then came to the town and asked for permission, and when the town said ‘No,’ you said ‘There’s nothing we’re going to do,’” Howell said at the April 13 meeting. “I don’t think you’re being sneaky, I don’t think you’re trying to pull a fast one, but you went into a contract before you had the authority to spend money, at least from the town.”
Becky Cooper, who was elected the chair of the Bristol School Committee during the Friday, April 10 meeting, said the education service center board has the authority to set up the organization.
“Everything we did was OK by the state and follows the rules,” Cooper said during the meeting.
When asked by budget committee member Chuck Hansen what the plan is if the budget doesn’t pass at the special town meeting, Cooper said there was no plan.
“There isn’t a plan because July 1 we are out of the AOS, so if you don’t give us a chance to make this work, you are just sinking our ship, and it’s a ship full of children,” Cooper said.
Later on, Cooper said the school committee made a sincere attempt to lower the budget, and said she is “willing to stand by it even in the face of negativity.”
Residents will consider the revised education budget during a special town meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28 at Bristol Consolidated School. For more information, call 886-8358 or go to aos93.org/o/bcs.
