STANNARD – In contrast to several towns that took up contentious financial figures in their school budgets, a small town of just over 200 people unanimously passed their town school budget from the floor with little incident.
The $273,353.50 budget approved by voters represents a 0.01 percent increase from the current operating year. Although voters expressed contentment with the amount itself, discussion surrounded that some of the revenues and expenses are in limbo as the town considers its future operations.
“I feel that penalty is still lurking in the shadows,” says school board director Diane Janukajtis, referencing a penalty levied by the state for exceeding a maximum per-pupil spending limit. Janukajtis said the board worked closely with the Orleans Southwest Supervisory Union to get the final per-pupil spending figure of $15,731.58 under the excess spending threshold. An unexpected finding was the presence of a surplus that offset expenses this year.
In a last-minute request last year at the 2025 town school district meeting, Janukajtis encouraged voters to spend an additional $24,600 from the district’s reserve fund so the town would not be heavily penalized for exceeding the excess per-pupil spending threshold.
At that meeting, expenditures relating to tuition ballooned when secondary schools increased their rates across the board, leaving the town with few options to control costs.
Stannard, which has no education services, covers tuition for grade 7-12 students to attend a school of their choice. She said in previous years, decisions to assess a penalty to a school district for excess spending could be appealed if an extenuating or uncontrollable circumstance existed. She said that protection has since vanished. Uncertainty remains as to what the town will do in coming years to address this issue.
When the school district has a surplus at the end of the year, Janukajtis said, it comes from either a student dropping out of school or moving out of town. It is not secure from year-to-year. The reserve fund currently has a balance of zero after the use of the $24,600 last year. Many wonder about the impact of education spending on the school district if a large group of secondary students move to town.
State Representative Michael Southworth, who spoke at the meeting, received questions from the audience on what options exist to offset expenses relating to health care, which is a large expense in school budgets and an asset to employees within the schools.
Moderator Tom Gilbert thanked attendees for participating in the floor meeting, noting the atmosphere of civic engagement allowed people to think about shared values and collaboration at a time when polarity and distancing is prevalent.
He spoke of his youngest daughter, who used her attendance at town meetings when she was younger as a topic of her college essay.
“We’re seeing the erosion of direct democracy,” Gilbert said. “It’s a special thing we’re holding on to and preserving tradition.”
The idea of a municipal website and improving communications in town was a theme that permeated multiple discussions posed by voters in other business. Several aspects of discussion including agricultural practices in town and emergency preparedness focused on the need to polish a final draft of the town plan. A draft town plan exists from previous work, but momentum died on submitting a final plan when two small issues with the plan were raised.
Select Board member Katy Knuth said it’s time to look at who is and can be appointed to the planning commission, and reminded the audience that any planning commission meetings are public meetings and open comment opportunities will exist. The select board welcomed interested volunteers to sit on the commission.
The town will also be looking to appoint a zoning administrator and may consider services from zoning administrators from other towns should no interest or qualified individuals exist.
Feedback was solicited by one voter in a Front Porch Forum post to assess interest in modifying town meeting day and time. That feedback was brought to the select board. “When we talked about it, we thought it was a good discussion for town meeting,” Knuth said.
“We’ve got to keep the lifeblood going in this town. There’s so many people who can’t be here,” said resident Chris Foster.
Gilbert suggested that the question may be better answered if the registered voters of the town were asked what it would take to encourage more voter turnout, noting that a floor meeting could still be easily managed with up to three times the attendance of the current roster of 20-30 individuals.
In the absence of consistent internet through the town, discussion from the floor concluded that the best way to solicit holistic feedback was by mailing the questions to registered voters. Some ideas from the floor included offering childcare and sending announcements of town meeting earlier.
Questions were also raised whether moving the day or time would have the effect of drawing in more people. One limitation of the current practice is that, although it is a state holiday, time off from work relies on concessions from private employers.
“I’ve missed a lot of town meetings for work. We’re definitely swimming against the current,” said school director Simon Cohen. “I have respect for the hurdles people have to jump to make it work.”
The municipal budget of $335,845.36 passed unanimously, and incumbents for most town office positions were re-elected.
Dianne Molleur was elected to the cemetery commission; Maria Messier was elected as an auditor; and Asa Kuhn and Donald Janukajtis were voted in as listers. With the constable position vacant for over a year, John Reece was elected to the two-year position. Jan Lewandoski reported that the constable position has become easier with time, noting the town started an arrangement with an individual who assists with abandoned, neglected and stray dogs.
