Just Over $16 Million Spent on Behalf of Roughly 10,000 Residents by 29 Representatives
BAR HARBOR—In a 47-minute-long annual public budget meeting, 29 registered voters of the four Mount Desert island towns approved the $16,172,865 MDI High School fiscal year 2025/26 budget.
The annual meeting took place in the high school’s library at 6 p.m., on Wednesday, April 2. Counting everybody in the room, there were 35 adults in the room, 29 of whom were registered voters in one of the four island towns.
The voter attendance by town was;
Bar Harbor - 13 voters,
Mount Desert - 9 voters,
Southwest Harbor - 2 voters,
Tremont - 5 voters.
The first order of business was Article I, which was the election of a moderator. Jerry Miller, of Mount Desert, was nominated and that nomination was seconded.
There were no other nominations. By written ballot, which only had to be three yes votes, Miller was elected moderator.
Miller turned the meeting over to High School Principal Matt Haney so that he could explain the budget to the audience.
After Haney finished going over the budget for the attendees, there was a question and answer session during which there were three questions.
One audience member asked if the two new vans budgeted for were going to replace the current vans and if the new vans would be electric vehicles (EV) or gasoline. Haney replied by saying that if the current vans still had some useful life in them, they would be kept because the school does not has enough vans to use and two is never enough. Haney also said that due to the size of the vans needed, there are not many options for EV vans and they would most likely be gas.
Bar Harbor Warrant Committee Chair Christine Smith and Secretary Louise Lopez attended, as did Bar Harbor Warrant Committee Education Subcommittee Chair Bob Chapin who asked what the cost per student is. School Superintendent Mike Zboray responded to Chapin’s question by saying that the cost per student based upon the latest figures (school year 2023/24) is approximately $20,456 per student. Zboray followed up by saying that the high school can only charge tuition students $14,000 to attend MDI High School.
Another attendee asked if the food service expense line includes staffing. Both Haney and Business Manager Nancy Thurlow said that the line item does cover staffing and due to state reimbursement, that line item is kind of an estimating game every year.
Below are all of the remaining warrant articles, many of which have been shortened. The full warrant is available at the end of the article.
Article II – Regular Instruction for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2026.
MDI High School Committee recommends – $5,693,762
2024-25 amount was $5,348,840
Verbal vote with zero no votes.
Article lll – Special Education for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2026.
Committee recommends – $2,767,829
2024-25 amount was $2,354,196
Verbal vote with zero no votes.
Article IV – Career and Technical Education for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2026.
Committee recommends – $50,000
2024-25 amount was $75,000
Verbal vote with zero no votes.
Article V – Other Instruction for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2026.
Committee recommends – $1,033,451
2024-25 amount was $951,855
Verbal vote with zero no votes.
Article VI – Student & Staff Support for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2026.
Committee recommends – $1,974,046
2024-25 amount was $1,771,924
Verbal vote with zero no votes.
Article VII – System Administration for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2026.
Committee recommends – $331,046
2024-25 amount was $279,369
Verbal vote with zero no votes.
Article VIII – School Administration for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2026.
Committee recommends – $866,444
2024-25 amount was $745,377
Verbal vote with zero no votes.
Article IX – Transportation & Buses for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2026.
Committee recommends – $648,727
2024-25 amount was $350,104
Verbal vote with zero no votes.
Article X – Facilities Maintenance for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2026.
Committee recommends – $2,507,560
2024-25 amount was $2,319,947
Verbal vote with zero no votes.
Article XI – Debt Service and Other Commitments for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2026.
Committee recommends – $0
2024-25 amount was $0
Verbal vote with zero no votes.
Article XII – All Other Expenditures for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2026.
Committee recommends – $150,000
2024-25 amount was $150,000
Verbal vote with zero no votes.
Article XIII – To see what sum Mount Desert Island Regional School District will appropriate for the total cost of funding public education from grade 9 to grade 12 as described in the Essential Programs and Services Funding Act and to see what sum the district will raise and assess as each municipality’s contribution to the total cost of funding public education from grade 9 to grade 12 as described in the Essential Programs and Services Funding Act in accordance with the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 15688 for the period July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026.
Recommended amounts set forth below:
Total Appropriated (by municipality) Total Raised (*District Assessment by Municipality)
Bar Harbor $2,689,253 Bar Harbor $1,895,384
Mount Desert $1,277,744 Mount Desert $1,707,912
Southwest Harbor $1,098,616 Southwest Harbor $780,886
Tremont $750,246 Tremont $536,337
School District School District
Total Appropriated $5,815,859 Total Raised $4,920,519
* District Assessment by Municipality is calculated per the school district’s enabling statute.
Explanation: The MDI Regional School District’s contribution to the total cost of funding public education from grade 9 to grade 12 as described in the Essential Programs and Services Funding Act is the amount of money determined by state law to be the minimum amount that the district must raise and assess in order to receive the full amount of state dollars.
Hand vote – 29 yes votes, zero no votes.
Article XIV – To see what sum Mount Desert Island Regional School District will raise for the annual payments on debt service previously approved by the district for non-state-funded school construction projects, non-state funded portions of school construction projects and minor capital projects in addition to the funds appropriated as the local share of Mount Desert Island Regional School District’s contribution to the total cost of funding public education from grade 9 to grade 12.
Recommended: $103,279
Explanation: Non-state-funded debt service is the amount of money needed for the annual payments on the Mount Desert Island Regional School District’s long-term debt for major capital school construction projects, and minor capital renovation projects that are not approved for state subsidy. The bonding of this long-term debt was approved by the voters or the Board of Trustees, as applicable.
Hand vote – 29 yes votes, zero no votes.
Article XV – To see what sum Mount Desert Island Regional School District will raise and appropriate in additional local funds for school purposes (Recommend: $7,206,976) for the period of July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026, which exceeds the State’s Essential Programs and Services allocation model by (Recommend: $7,206,976) as required to fund the operating and capital budgets recommended by the school committee and board of trustees.
The school committee recommends $7,206,976 for additional local funds and gives the following reasons for exceeding the State’s Essential Programs and Services funding model by $7,206,976. The state funding model underestimates the actual costs to fully fund the 2025-2026 budget.
Explanation: The additional local funds are those locally raised funds over and above the Mount Desert Island Regional School District’s local contribution to the total cost of funding public education from grade 9 to grade 12 as described in the Essential Programs and Services Funding Act and local amounts raised for the annual debt service payment on non-state-funded school construction projects that will help achieve Mount Desert Island Regional School District’s budget for educational programs.
Written ballot vote – 29 yes votes, zero no votes.
Article XVI – To see what sum Mount Desert Island Regional School District will authorize the School Committee to expend for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2026 from the Mount Desert Island Regional School District’s contribution to the total cost of funding public education from grade 9 to grade 12 as described in the Essential Programs and Services Funding Act, non-state-funded school construction projects, additional local funds for school purposes under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 15690, unexpended balances, tuition receipts, state subsidy, and other receipts for the support of schools.
Recommended: $16,022,865
2024-25 Amount was $14,346,612
Hand vote – 29 yes votes, zero no votes.
Article XVII – To see what sum Mount Desert Island Regional School District will appropriate for adult education (Recommended $268,320) and to see what sum Mount Desert Island Regional School District will raise as the local share for the period of July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026; with authorization to expend any additional, incidental, or miscellaneous receipts in the interest and for the well-being of the adult education program.
Recommended: $150,000
2024-25 Amount was $ 143,544
Hand vote – 29 yes votes, zero no votes.
Article XVIII – In addition to the amount in Article II - XII and XVII, shall the District appropriate and authorize the School Committee to expend additional state, federal and other funds received during the fiscal year 2025-2026 for school purposes, provided that such additional funds do not require the expenditure of local funds not previously appropriated?
School Committee recommends passage
Note: Current Year Estimate = $ 358,743
Verbal vote with zero no votes.
Article XIX – Shall Mount Desert Island Regional School District authorize the School Committee to transfer up to $35,000 from the Bus Reserve Fund to the operating budget for FY 2025-2026 for partial funding of the purchase of a new school bus, which amount is included in Article IX and Article XVI above?
School Committee recommends passage.
Verbal vote with zero no votes.
All photos: Shaun Farrar/Bar Harbor Story.
Note: Shaun Farrar is also a member of the Bar Harbor Warrant Committee. He did not vote during the meeting, but instead reported.
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Let's see.... that is ⅓ of the cost for a trip to Mar a Lago to golf for the weekend.