FORT KENT, Maine — St. John Valley voters shot down the MSAD 27 school budget during the June 10 election, which would have represented an overall 6.4 percent increase from the previous year’s budget.
The district includes the towns of Fort Kent, Wallagrass, New Canada, St. Francis and St. John. The proposed increase of $429,404 would have been spread between these communities.
In Fort Kent, the largest of the district’s communities, 371 voters rejected the budget while 215 supported it. In Wallagrass, 58 voters rejected the budget and 20 supported it. Voters in St. Francis also rejected the budget, with 21 opposed and 11 in favor. New Canada opposed the budget, with 19 against it and 11 voting to support it. Voters in St. John Plantation supported the budget, with 15 in favor and 11 opposed.
Election results for New Canada were not immediately available.
Town officials in both Fort Kent and Wallagrass — communities which would have seen a respective 8.2 percent and 9.4 percent increase as a result of the budget — issued advisory resolutions opposed to this budget on May 30.
The resolutions were symbolic and advisory, as the towns do not have authority over the school budget. Both towns, in their resolutions, cited concerns about rising costs for aging residents who rely on fixed incomes.
Last year, Fort Kent’s mill rate increased by 1.95. At that time, Town Manager Suzie Paradis distributed a pie chart showing that the school budget took up 60 percent of the town budget, and that it had increased by $322,651 over the previous year.
MSAD 27 Superintendent Ben Sirois issued a statement in response to this earlier this month. He said that with rising costs affecting households, businesses and schools, the board worked hard to create a modest 6.4 percent increase over the previous year’s budget.
He said that while school officials began work on the budget in January, and held three public workshops between March and May, no members of the Fort Kent Town Council attended any of these meetings.
“The Town Council had ample opportunity to become informed about the budget but chose not to participate in any of the workshops or hearings,” Sirois wrote. “Criticizing a process they ignored is neither fair nor responsible.”
This is not the first time voters in the district rejected a school budget. MSAD 27 residents in 2015 rejected a school budget proposal three times.
