Perry voters reject school budget, ask board to try again

The Town of Perry School Committee will go back to the drawing board to work out details of the fiscal year 2017‑2018 school budget after residents at the August 22 annual town meeting voted 44 to 30 by written ballot to turn down the budget. Select board Chair Karen Raye started the discussion about the school budget by stating, "I am not going to support the school budget this year." She noted that the school committee has a "plan B in their back pocket."
Perry is not alone in having residents return more than once to vote on school budgets, as the state share of education has not met its legal mandate in many years, property taxes have increased for coastal communities, incomes have remained flat with many older residents on fixed incomes, and year‑round populations of young working families declining.
AOS 77 Superintendent Kenneth Johnson explained in response to questions about the plan B that it might involve the combining of grades 1 and 2. The Grade 1 teacher position "is vacant right now," he explained and would likely not be filled. The position had a budget line of about $48,000, given that the teacher had been at the school many years. In an interview Johnson notes that in addition to the salary there would also be savings in health insurance and other benefits that could be upward of $20,000. He qualifies that the amount "varies by the individual." One other possible savings area could be a vacant part‑time Title 1 position. However, the position is partially funded by the federal government, and savings would not be "a huge amount." The school committee meets the first Wednesday of the month, and Johnson anticipates that, because of the upcoming holiday weekend, they will meet as scheduled on Wednesday, September 6, at 6 p.m. at the school to reconsider the budget.
Because of the vote to turn down the school budget for regular education, moderator Kevin Raye suggested that the remaining school budget items be tabled. "Without this piece we can't have a school budget." Articles 6 through 18 were tabled by vote. In addition, articles 42 and 44, concerned with tax lists and tax collection, were tabled on the advice of Treasurer Traci Claroni and Tax Collector Janice Scanlon until the school budget is approved by voters.
The school budget as written for the town meeting was for $1,791,150, with the total to be raised as the town's contribution as described by the Essential Programs and Services Funding Act to be $811,629 and the amount to be raised and appropriated in additional local funds to be $336,860.
Most other articles were voted in with little fanfare. Article 24, the budget for the town's administration, required a hand count, with a vote of 26 in favor and 19 opposed. Article 41, requiring the selectmen to transfer $138,538 in unexpended and excess revenues to the surplus account, generated significant conversation and questions before passing 32 to 20. Prior to the passing vote there was a close vote of 24 to 26 to table the article until the school budget came back to the special town meeting. A number of residents questioned the amounts and why they couldn't be used to offset the school budget. Claroni explained, "The auditor recommends the surplus cover three to four months. We don't have anything close."

Municipal elections
In the municipal election held on August 21, Adam Jamieson received 37 votes as selectman, assessor and overseer of the poor; Denise Harris received 35 votes for the superintending school committee; and William Newcomb received 36 votes for the planning board. All three will serve three‑year terms and ran unopposed. At the August 22 town meeting residents voted in Suzanne Bechard, Lee Harris and Raymond Parker to three‑year terms on the board of appeals; Thomas Pottle and David Wilbur to three‑year terms to the building and equipment committee; and Ellen Brown and Anne Bellefleur to three‑year terms on the recreation committee.

Dedications made
The Perry Elementary School gym has been dedicated as the Arlo I. Smith Memorial Gymnasium in honor of the former principal and longtime educator. The selectmen and school board made a presentation to his widow, Bonita Smith, and family members during the annual town meeting. Arlo Smith began his teaching career in 1969 at the former Clark Elementary School in Perry and as principal oversaw the construction of the new Perry Elementary School in 1989. He remained a dedicated educator and principal in the Town of Perry until his retirement in 2013. The declaration of dedication continues by noting his true community leadership in many roles, "but most fondly remembered" as the moderator of the Town of Perry's annual meetings and as an avid sports fan, where he also served as a Little League coach and spent 30 years as a referee.
The 2017 town report was dedicated to the memory of Victoria "Vicki" Veader Lincoln, who passed away in June. A longtime resident, she worked for many years as an emergency medical technician and paramedic with the East Bay Ambulance Service and then Downeast EMS. "Vicki's kind, professional and reassuring manner in times of crisis were enormously comforting for those suffering with illness and injury," the dedication states. "Her memory will live on through her devoted husband Dennis, daughter Jennifer, sons Dennis and Jason, and her beloved grandchildren."