Bangor’s school budget will not spike because of the unexpected temporary closure next year of the Fairmount School to remediate asbestos, the district’s superintendent said Thursday.
“Fortunately, we had some contingencies in the budget that are going to support this process, so it’s not going to go beyond what we have allocated,” Superintendent Marie Robinson told city councilors during a budget workshop.
Although the emergency won’t directly change budget plans for the upcoming school year, it has raised larger questions about the state of Bangor’s aging schools and the lack of funding available to replace them.
Bangor’s school committee has proposed a $65.5 million budget for the next fiscal year, up from $62 million last year — a 5.58% increase.
Robinson emphasized that she does not see any flexibility in the proposed budget.
“With so much uncertainty within the school department right now, I really don’t see anything that we can modify,” she said.
The committee already reduced the planned school budget by about half a million dollars between its first reading on March 25 and its second on April 8, according to a May 1 memo from Robinson. This is because employee health insurance premiums were expected to rise by 14% but ultimately only rose 8.65%, she said.
Councilor Joe Leonard applauded the committee’s efforts on the budget, noting, “that’s a massive, massive decrease.”
School committee members unanimously approved the budget draft, Timothy Surrette, the chair, told councilors.
“There’s broad support on the committee for the budget. And as you’ll see, overwhelmingly, this budget is people. It’s teachers, it’s educational technicians, it’s coaches, it’s mentors, it’s school counselors, it’s principals, and on and on who serve our 3,700 plus students on a daily basis,” he said.
The school budget growth, which totals $3.46 million, is mostly offset by an additional $2.6 million in state subsidies, Bangor City Manager Carollynn Lear wrote in her overview of the city’s budget.
Councilors didn’t take a formal vote on the school budget Thursday, although some of them thanked the School Committee members for their work to trim it down. The council’s final budget vote is tentatively scheduled for June 22, according to the city’s website.
All nine councilors will weigh in on the school budget next month after an attempt to remove Councilor Wayne Mallar from the vote over a potential conflict of interest failed.
Councilor Michael Beck led that charge after Mallar was caught on a hot mic in March saying the school department should not get any more funding in its budget because it’s spending money on multilingual education for students he called “illegals.” Schools are required by state and federal law to provide English language education.
Mallar’s comments prompted a public outcry, with some residents calling for the councilor’s resignation and his peers on the council launching an ethics investigation into his conduct.
Beck argued Thursday that Mallar’s comments show he made a judgment about the school budget based on personal bias, but his attempt to rule Mallar had a conflict of interest failed after a 4-4 vote. Councilors Susan Faloon, Angela Walker, Leonard and Beck voted in favor and councilors Daniel Carson, Susan Deane, Carolyn Fish and Susan Hawes voted against.
Robinson defended the planned budget increase Thursday, acknowledging that “it’s frustrating when costs are rising,” but adding, “The doors are open for anyone who comes through those doors and we have the duty, the moral and ethical duty, to educate them to the highest degree possible.”
Her memo to councilors outlining the school budget listed six primary drivers behind the budget’s growth this year, including staff costs and contracts, expanding multilingual services, growing special education services, updating curricula and teaching resources and implementing a state-required paid family and medical leave tax.
She said Thursday that adding staff, such as extra student support staff or multilingual teachers, are “direct services that are allowing our students to access curriculum and to achieve at high levels. So, it’s absolutely essential that we continue to add staff as needed in those areas.”
