AOS 91 Budget of $3.4 Million Voted on by 26 Voters Representing All Eight Towns in the AOS
BAR HARBOR—The AOS 91 FY25/26 budget was unanimously approved at the MDI High School library on Wednesday, January 22.
A total of 26 registered voters from five of the eight towns that make up the AOS 91 showed up to participate, the vast majority of them being either school board members or school employees.
The towns that were represented and the amount of people from each town are below.
Bar Harbor – eight representatives,
Tremont – six representatives,
Mount Desert – five representatives,
Southwest Harbor – four representatives,
Trenton – three representatives.
The towns without any representation were the island towns of Swan’s Island, Frenchboro, and the Cranberry Isles. There are no quorum requirements for the annual AOS budget meeting.
BUDGET MEETING
The first order of business was to elect a moderator to preside over the meeting and Jerry Miller, who is co-chairman of the Town of Mount Desert Warrant Committee, was nominated. That nomination was seconded and Miller was elected unopposed. Miller was sworn in and took over the running of the meeting.
Selena Dunbar, who is the executive assistant to School Superintendent Mike Zboray, was next nominated to be the secretary for the meeting. That nomination was seconded, and Dunbar was elected. Those in attendance voted in favor of non-residents being able to make public comment during the meeting.
Articles one through three, which authorize expenditures for the AOS central office, were then voted on and they all passed unanimously, or at least with no nays as they were verbal votes. They are listed below.
Article 1 – To see what sum the AOS will be authorized to expend for special education. AOS School Committee recommends $1,260,735.
The FY24/25 amount was $920,586.
Article 2 – To see what sum the AOS will be authorized to expend for student and staff support. AOS School Committee recommends $947,670.
The FY24/25 amount was $868,675.
Article 3 – To see what sum the AOS will be authorized to expend for system administration. AOS School Committee recommends $1,190,852.
The FY24/25 amount was $974,795.
Articles 4 through 11 were then voted on and they all passed unanimously, or at least with no nays as they were verbal votes. These articles all carried a zero-sum budget request and were voted on as a matter of procedure.
Article 12 summarized the proposed AOS 91 budget and is the sum total of the first three articles.
Article 12 – To see what sum the AOS will authorize the AOS School Committee to expend for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025 and ending June 30, 2026 for the support of the AOS central office budget. The AOS School Committee recommends $3,399,257. The FY24/25 amount was $ 2,764,056.
Article 12 was a hand count vote and all 26 voters in attendance voted yes.
Article 13 authorized the expenditure of any grants or other receipts for “central office purposes.”
Articles 13 – Shall the AOS School Committee be authorized to expend such other sums as may be received from federal or state grants or programs or other sources during the fiscal year for central office purposes provided that such grants, programs or other sources do not require the expenditure of other funds not previously appropriated?
Article 13 was also a hand count vote and 25 voters in attendance voted yes. There were no abstentions and no nays.
The next budget meeting of this type will be for the high school’s budget and it is scheduled for Wednesday, April 2, at 6 p.m., at the high school.
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