Potential $6 Million Budget and New Building Focus of School Board Meeting
Board hopes to find more outdoor space in new design & prepares for budget session
BAR HARBOR—School Board Chair Alexandra “Lilea” Simis stood in between the school buildings on Eagle Lake Road Monday afternoon, staring out at the field and the playground.
“I was just standing out there trying to imagine,” she told her board members and staff.
What she was trying to see was what the new school, approved by voters this June, would look like in reality.
“I’ve been staring at paper,” she told board members Monday.
Tweaking and understanding the proposed building is what the Bar Harbor School Board spent a good part of its Monday afternoon meeting about. It also spent some time on the regular school budget and timeline. Finance Director Sarah Gilbert also attended.
The discussion began with public comment from Mallory Watkins, a parent of three, who wasn’t attending because of a consistent scheduling conflict, but who expressed in writing that she was concerned about the new school’s design
Watkins said that she was concerned about the design of the proposed courtyard, and wanted more room for a secure playground and athletic fields.
Principal Dr. Heather Webster said that there have been some changes to the plan’s design thanks to continuing conversation with staff and the engineers. They are working toward maximizing the outdoor play space in one corner, still looking toward placing the basketball court, and trying to see if it would be advantageous to turn the gym at a 90-degree angle. Those conversations are continuing and still on schedule.
Part of the issue is that the proposed height of the building to hold the mechanicals would most likely not be issued a variance by the town to allow it, some board members, Webster, and Superintendent Michael Zboray said.
“I think we need to be more creative in not having our parking space be so vehicular centered,” Webster said. She said part of that issue had to do with the height of the roof, potentially lowering the grade of the building to accommodate that, and then making sure that parking isn’t higher than the first floor of the building. This took away a bit of the pre-K to second grade playground area.
There are 85 employees, two school vehicles, and visitor parking that needs to be accommodated on the sloping lot. That makes a need for about 100 spaces, Webster said.
Board member Tyson Starling said it would be ideal to have the busses not interact with the teachers’ vehicles, which can’t leave until all the busses do in the current set-up.
“I feel bad for all the teachers who are trapped,” he said.
Vice Chair Marie Yarborough asked why they weren’t going back to the town to try to get a variance on height that would allow them to not use coveted ground space for a suite of mechanicals or appliances.
“We want to advocate for that. I would assume that the town would think that was a good idea,” Yarborough said.
Webster said she would ask for an update on that issue on Friday. The town does have an allowance for mechanical space to exceed the height as long as it’s not more than 30% of the roof space. This aspect was not specifically mentioned at the meeting.
THE LIBRARY
The board also spoke about the library’s design, which she said was the heart of the school.
“We’re trying to be creative and maybe get some needed inspiration,” Webster said.
Board members suggested getting outside inspiration about the library’s design and suggested that Webster reach out to Harriman’s, the firm in charge of the project, to do so.
“It’s going to be the heart of the building. We want to make sure we make it right,” Webster said.
Yarborough agreed, “Your gut is telling you it’s an important place.”
She advocated listening to that intuition. The staff, she said, are used to retrofitting everything, but now they can move out of that “culture of depravity” that they are used to where classrooms and offices go into closets, buckets catch water leaks.
HALLOWEEN PARADE
The Halloween parade will be held on the morning of Friday, October 27, which is also an early release day.
“It seems like Friday is a better day for a Halloween parade,” Webster said.
The parade was also held on a Friday and not Halloween last year. During the event, CES staff and students walk through downtown Bar Harbor.
STAFFING AND KITCHEN
The school will be advertising for a food service worker to replace Kathy Colbeth and a custodian to replace Dave Tomlinson. Tomlinson took a position in Trenton. Colbeth has resigned. The hood system in the kitchen can still not be used due to safety issues found during an inspection.
In her written update, Webster said, “we are not allowed to use the open flame or grill anything with grease vapors. We were scheduled to have the work done tomorrow and Wednesday.”
However, the technician had to cancel due to illness.
SPORTS AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND OTHER NEWS
Webster said that the fall sports teams are doing great. She said the recent cross country race was particularly muddy.
“One of the runners came out with no shoes and no socks,” she’d said.
The mud had taken them.
Math Counts has started up again.
“It’s so wonderful for a staff member to talk about executive functioning,” Webster said, adding that it was especially true because the school staff is exceptional. It was the first of three presentations by Kelly Beaulieu. There was also a discussion about preserving the dignity of the school’s youngest learners.
The Parent-Teacher-Student Association will hold a raffle in November. Minivan shopping will be a priority in October for Webster.
BUDGET
A draft preliminary budget was dispersed at the meeting and Zboray presented the budget timeline saying that he’d met with Gilbert and interim Town Manager Cornell Knight about the process for the potential $6 million budget.
Zboray said the school doesn’t have to have quite as extensive a presentation to the Town Council this year. Gilbert said she’d reach out to Councilor Kyle Shank about joining in with the School Board prior to the formal Town Council discussions. He’s the council liaison for the school.
November 6 - Board discusses the preliminary budget
November 20 – Board potentially revises it
December 4 and 18 – The school budget is finalized at the Board level by the Board.
January 9 – The school budget must be presented to the town by this date
January 25—A presentation to the joint Warrant Committee and Town Council
Feb 27—A joint discussion with the Warrant Committee and Town Council
March 26—A public hearing about the proposed budget.
Gilbert said, “It’s a pretty tight timeline.”
Yarborough asked when the Warrant Committee’s education subcommittee meeting would be meeting.
Zboray doesn’t have those dates yet. Members of the subcommittees speak about specific areas of the town budget and create recommendations to the whole Warrant Committee. Those committee memberships have not been detailed yet.
Zboray said that currently the carryover for the school budget is higher than expected, but stressed that it’s only two months in. There are reasons for that, he said. The state subsidy came in a bit higher than expected, he said. They saved money on salaries, Blue Cross BlueShield, and extra and co-curricular stipends.
They are over budget in electrical, heating oil, bus fuel, and repair and maintenance.
“Of course that will change as we go along,” Zboray said.
Webster said that they are going to meet about co-curricular stipends and what they want to see moving forward.
Enrollment is currently at 349, an increase of 16 from last year, which is the highest it’s been in October since 2017.
“I don’t want to add anything big in the budget,” Webster said, “except for a new school.”
OFFICERS
Simis and Yarborough were reelected to chair and vice-chair unanimously. They were unopposed. The board moved that they do not need a secretary. It hasn’t had one in years, members said. Webster takes the notes for the meetings. That motion passed unanimously.
The next meeting is Monday, November 6, at 4:30 p.m. in the school library.
IMPORTANT DATES FOR CONNERS EMERSON
Friday, October 6th is an Early Release Day (new)/October 20th is now a full day.
Friday, October 13th is the Student Flu Clinic
Friday, October 20th CES Talent Show
October 23-27th is Parent-Teacher Conference Week
Friday, October 27th will be the HALLOWEEN PARADE!!!! (more details to come)
Friday, October 27th is an Early Release Day
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
Conners Emerson School Building Project