Bristol residents voted to turn down the education budget at the towns annual town meeting on Tuesday, March 17. The school committee is now tasked with reevaluating the budget; residents will make a decision at a special town meeting. (Emily Bracher photo)
The Bristol School Committee will have to reevaluate the $8,359,130.96 education budget for the upcoming fiscal year after residents voted down the proposed figure at the annual town meeting on Tuesday, March 17.
At the beginning of the meeting, a motion was made for the articles related to the education budget, which was an increase of $187,745.38 or 2.3%, to be considered first, rather than at the end of the warrant. What followed was more than two hours of discussion between members of the school and budget committees as well as residents regarding the 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.
In its review of the proposal, the budget committee unanimously voted against recommended the system administration line due to the high costs compared to the size of the student body at Bristol Consolidated School.
Many budget committee members and voters also voiced their feeling of being left in the dark throughout the process of Bristol leaving AOS 93 and forming Johns Bay Coastal Alliance.
“It would have been nice to have local control before they hired two people,” budget committee member Jef Howell said.
Fellow budget committee member Alex Beaudet said the committee and many residents believe being asked to vote on funding the positions after the fact takes away from their role in the decision to leave AOS 93.
The motion was made after voters passed education Articles 34-39, a heated conversation starting at Article 40, which asks if the town can be authorized to expend $332,360.94 for system administration. Article 40 was eventually turned down by voters, who then approved Articles 41 through 45.
Both sides of the argument for Article 40 came to bat during this conversation. Multiple budget committee members urged voters to turn down the article and have the school committee revise it.
Katherine Thompson, who serves as the vice chair of the board for Johns Bay Coastal Alliance, expressed her confidence in the creation of two separate upper-level administration roles. She said that she believes that the model the committee has set up for the education service center is “flexible,” and can be organized however to deliver whatever services the school wants.
In regard to the concern about transparency, Thompson said there wasn’t a public vote on the transition because of a “condensed timeline.”
“The dynamics changed very quickly, and the South Bristol and Bristol school boards decided that it was in our best interest to respond to that quickly,” Thompson said.
AOS 93 Executive Director of Finance and Operations Peter Neilson, who hired as the executive director for the education service center, stood up multiple times to reiterate what Thompson said and lay out the model they have planned for the ESC.
“So you employ people, but you have some extra capacity in those people from year to year,” Nielson said. “You have one or two days a week that they could be helping other schools and an education service center can then leverage that and make those people available.”
In response to Nielson’s comment, Beaudet asked to hear from Bristol residents because Nielson isn’t a Bristol taxpayer and “has invested financial interest in this passing.”
A few articles later, residents voted down an amendment to remove the $332,360.94 from the total amount.
“My recommendation is to turn down the amendment, turn down the article itself, and then have the school board make a motion to not consider the rest of the Articles 47 and 48,” moderator Don Means said.
Bristol budget committee member Alex Beaudet urged voters to turn down Article 40, which asks if the town can be authorized to expend $332,360.94 for System Administration. The article was eventually turned down and residents voted against the education budget, which will now be reevaluated by the school committee to be brought back into discussion at a special town meeting. (Emily Bracher photo)
A motion was then made to not consider Articles 47 and 48, which are concerned with raising the funds for the education budget.
“So we want to say, no, go back to your school board with South Bristol and figure out a better way, and then come back with a better administrative structure,” Howell said.
After moving past Articles 47 and 48, voters then turned down Article 49, 80-78. The article asked if the school could be authorized to carry forward $125,000 in the facilities and operations reserve fund and to transfer up to $50,000 from unexpended balances to the same fund for a total balance of $175,000.
Voters approved the $59,382.75 for Johns Bay Coastal Alliance Educations Center’s transition from AOS 93. Before the vote, school committee members urged voters to turn down the article because it believes it is unnecessary as the total was already approved by voters as a part of the education budget process.
“The intention was to generate discussion, and we are not afraid of discussion, we welcome discussion,” outgoing Bristol School Committee Chair Darrin Carlucci said. “The town administrator and the select board have all noted that this article is nonbinding. To vote on a nonbinding article that interferes with the school committee’s statutory authority and the legal budget process, we find this troublesome and may create confusion about how the school budget process works under Maine law.
A brief announcement was made during the meeting congratulating Carlucci for his 18 years of service with the school committee, as he did not seek reelection this year.
At one point during the education budget discussion, select board member Paul Yates said that there isn’t as much commotion amongst voters when discussing the budget for trash removal and paving the roads, but then they “beat the living hell” out of the education budget every year.
“I know a lot of people aren’t satisfied with it and paying the taxes and the increase but Jesus Christ, we got to start somewhere to educate,” Yates said.
Before the education budget discussion began, the select board recognized Means for his 35th year as moderator, who received a standing ovation from the crowd.
Michael Melville stepped in as moderator for Articles 3-28.
Voters approved the municipal budget of $3,838,737.92, an increase of $152,694 or 4.05% from last year.
Taxpayers are responsible for raising $1,887,060.56, an increase of $7,727 or 0.41%.
Voters approved the remaining articles with little discussion, budget items including but not limited to the Bristol-South Bristol Transfer Station budget totaling $426,000, an increase of $127,000 or 35%; the budget for the Bristol Mills Dam and Fish Ladder totaling $62,000, a decrease of $89,539 or 83.2% decrease; the Olde Bristol Days budget totaling $15,000, a decrease of $1,000 or 15.9%; the budget for the Central Lincoln County Ambulance Service totaling $279,014.31, a decrease of $31,019 or 10.53% and the budget for Bristol Fire and Rescue totaling $523,389.33, a decrease of $36,610.67 or 6.67.
The recommended reevaluation for the town totaling $350,000 was also approved.
Moderator Don Means received a standing ovation after the Bristol select board recognized him for 35 years of service. After the towns annual meeting on Tuesday, March 17, the school committee is tasked with reevaluating the education budget after voters turned it down. (Emily Bracher photo).
Residents voted in favor of the amendment of the Central Lincoln County Ambulance Agreement without any discussion. The amended interlocal agreement would more clearly define CLC Ambulance as “a quasi-municipal organization” owned and operated by the towns of Bremen, Bristol, Damariscotta, Newcastle, Nobleboro, and South Bristol.
The changes are in the wording so that CLC Ambulance can transition to Maine Municipal Association insurance and also help employees qualify for the Maine Public Employee Retirement system. An example of this is instead of referring to each town as a “party,” the amended agreement refers to those involved as a “town.”
Means took back over at Article 29 and when the meeting ended, gave more thanks for the recognition.
“So over the years, a lot of faces have changed in the town of Bristol, but you’ve treated me spectacularly,” Means said.
Residents took to the polls Monday, March 16 for the election of officers.
Marlie Reny defeated Andrew Fenniman for a three-year term on the Bristol School Committee, the only contested race of the election. Reny received 178 votes to Fenniman’s 144.
Chad Hanna received 272 votes in his uncontested reelection bid for a three-year term on the Bristol Select Board. Laurie Mahan received 282 votes to be reelected for another three-year term on the Bristol Parks Commission.
Incumbent William “Bill” Balicki and James Doherty received 206 and 66 votes, respectively, to fill two seats on the Bristol Planning Board. The terms are for three years each. Benjamin Pendleton did not seek reelection.
A total of 319 ballots were cast.
For more information, call 563-5270 or go to bristolmaine.org.
