LINCOLNVILLE — With the failure of the $5,132,588 school budget before voters in Lincolnville June 11, the process of reviewing why it failed and what to do next lies first with the School Committee.

The Lincolnville School Committee has convened a special meeting for June 24 at 6 p.m. at Lincolnville Central School, 523 Hope Road, Lincolnville and via zoom.

At the June 11 town meeting polls, Lincolnville voted 217 yes and 269 no on a warrant article seeking approval of the Lincolnville School budget.  That $5.1 million 2024-2025 budget had increased $666,304 from the 2023-2024 $4.5 million budget. 

In conversations on social media, some citizens expressed opposition to the overall 14.9 increase, others did not like the proposal to create a position for a social worker, or the increases in the special education line.

“The reality is you cannot tell from a yes/no ballot,” what voters objected to, said Town Administrator David Kinney, who is responsible for setting the schedule for another round of municipal hearings and vote on a second proposed 2024-2025 school budget. 

At the May 16 requisite public school budget validation meeting, the $5.1 million budget was approved. That meeting was attended by approximately 100 citizens and generated much conversation.

To School Committee Chair O’Brien, the path forward will include more conversations: “Can we find a lower number? Do we do another workshop?”

It is uncharted territory for both the school committee, as well as the town, and state statute deadlines must be met.

O’Brien is giving the two new members a chance, “to get up to speed and make an educated decision.”

Over the course of late winter into spring, there were six or seven meetings about the budget. All those meetings are recorded and available to the public for review, said O’Brien.

She said the bulk of the budget increase is due to operational costs, teachers’ salaries and contractual increases. The School Committee had factored in a two percent increase for special education.

Per state statute, the budget process starts again with the School Committee, which will formulate  its recommendations and then present to the Lincolnville Budget Committee for its consideration and recommendations, said Town Administrator Kinney.

Then, another warrant will get crafted for a Special School Budget meeting, which is then sent to the Select Board for approval to be posted.

A budget meeting will be held and voters at the budget meeting will determine the amounts for the various cost centers that make up the budget, said Kinney.

Once those amounts are known the town will conduct another referendum election for the voters to once again consider validating the budget. 

“This process is iterative until a budget is approved and validated by the voters,” he said.

The timeline stipulates that the next budget meeting must be held at least 10 days after June 11 and no more than 45 days from June 11. 

Once the amounts are known the budget validation referendum must be held on or before the 45 calendar day.  And absentee ballots will be available at least 30 days prior to the referendum election day, said Kinney.

Reach Editorial Director Lynda Clancy at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657