001You know. Good evening and welcome to the Augusta Board of Education special meeting. It is Monday, May 4th, 2026. It's 6:15 and we are here in the CATC cafeteria. We'll go around the table since we don't have name tags to introduce ourselves and we'll start to my left. >> Michelle Brenner, administrative assistant. Shelly Thibodeau, assistant superintendent. James O'Rourke, Ward 3. Charlie Hicks, member at large. Sam Baker, Ward 1. Rita at large. Bobby-Jo Sprague, Ward 4. Susan Parks, Ward 2. Jeanine Ross, business manager. Mike Tracy, superintendent. And I'm Martha Witham and I'm chair of the school board. We also have several members of the administrative team in the audience as well, but I won't ask them to introduce themselves at this time. With that, we will proceed to item number C on the agenda, which is
002new business, and I'm going to turn this over to the superintendent. Well, uh, would you like a motion and a second to approve the new budget so we can discuss? I will. I will accept a motion. I make a motion that the board >> [clears throat] >> consider and vote on the new FY27 budget. I second the motion. It's been moved and seconded to take a How did you word that, Susan? Uh, to consider and approve the FY27 school budget. To consider and approve the 2026-2027 school budget. Discussion. Now you talk, Tracy. >> Thank you. I'm not going to rehash for the point of This is the a special meeting of the full board, so I did highlight some of this uh finance half an hour ago, but for the because it's a new meeting
003and if other people might be listening to this, we'll just do a quick rehash. Um, I won't go through the 23 positions and other programs and services and supplies and so forth that uh we went through the last 2 weeks getting the budget >> [snorts] >> down by 3 million $556. Um we'll ask the business manager in a minute to present the totals to you on adult education's budget, our general fund budget, and the overall totals to the city as well as the taxation amount. So, you We'll give you those numbers in just a second. Um So, as everyone knows, the school board presented uh the superintendent presented a budget to the board. The board worked that budget into a place where the board was comfortable, and then that budget was taken to city council
004last month. Since then, we know I don't have to rehash what's happened in the last couple of weeks where city council sort of negotiated, if you will, with city council the last couple of weeks to get to where we're at. And um we've reduced the number of positions to get us to uh the totals we're going to present tonight. I will say that the formal the budget um overview that you typically will get in those three sheets with the total number of reductions on the third sheet, we'll have that all prepared for you for your business meeting next week, as well as the the warrants that you'll approve as a or not approve, but you'll approve as a board, which are the things that sort of get hung in the door posts and people get
005to vote on um approving that budget in June. Okay? So, are there questions about process, what's happened, and where the budget's at? Member Pelo? What happens if we don't approve the budget tonight? If you don't approve the budget tonight, um the city council will uh take those resolves regardless um what the board does. Um my recommendation is that the board approves the budget because we I will say that the budget's more by I think it's just under a million dollars, excuse me. Yes, just under a million dollars more than or just over a excuse me, just over a million dollars more than this current year. And if you don't vote the budget down or we don't do something technically right like the warrants, then I would be afraid that we would have to operate on
006this year's uh in uh numbers which would be less than what we're proposing for FY27. And of course, as you know, the tax Now, the city council has a resolve they'll formally approve Thursday night or not. If they approve that, then that goes up to the voters in June. So, I I really to to be honest, I don't know what would happen if you don't vote this if the board were to approve the budget tonight. Number parts? Like if we approve the budget tonight, but the community does not approve in the referendum does not approve the budget [clears throat] in June. Then we go back through the process with city council. And and if the school year starts and it still hasn't been resolved, we start with the current budget amount for FY26 budget amount.
007>> Which I'll warn the board will would require more cuts. Because we're going to have to honor contracts and increases no matter what. So, I That being said, I would approve a budget that has given us more money than the current year. So, a future budget could include something. Hypothetically, if the taxpayers were to vote down the budget and we were to go through the process again, and if city council were to appropriate more money, and that were to go through, then hypothetically, but the other thing, just like any other If If the citizens of Augusta vote vote the budget down and say it's still too much money, you we could be back here negotiating less money. Ultimately, it is the citizens of Augusta who would have the say over this budget. And for the
008new board members, do you want to just describe what when you talk about the warrants, what that actually is? Basically, there's a list, if you picture how Janine gives you that beautiful green sheet with the cost centers, instruction, special education, transportation, co-curricular. Each one of those will be listed in like a sentence that says to what sum the school board appropriates X amount of dollars for this purpose for general people of instruction. And you'll go through and either take that slate as a whole. I can't remember if you read if you read each one, but you can do it however you want. It's about a three-page document that's a legal binding document that says, "This is what the school board approves uh for to go out to be approved by city council and then the
009city." So >> So, what happened at the at your board meeting last week? I would just I would like for the board members to have that in hand prior to the meeting. >> Yep. Only because there's other information such as how much we're over EPS, how much was required local additional local. Some Some numbers we haven't really talked a lot about that people might have questions about, so that would give you a chance to to see those and have those questions before just perfunctory signing the warrants. It'll be a time It'll be attached to your board business agenda. >> Perfect. Thank you. I know sometimes it it reads funny when you look at the numbers when you get after the cost centers when you get down to those last [snorts] few. Thank you. Any other
010discussion? I would just request that the business manager can give you those totals of each the the overall areas so you know what you're voting on. >> That'd be great. I would love for us to write down to you. >> Yeah. >> [laughter] >> So, adult education is 1,000,000 30,000 601. The general fund is 41,000,000 391,000 792. So, the total is 42,000,000 422,000 393. That's the FY27 total budget amount. Correct. Including adult ed. Including adult ed but not including state not including not including CATC, correct? >> No, that's not correct. The the 41,000,000 the general fund amount that Janine gave you, that includes CATC. >> That has CATC. >> Yeah. And what's excluded is adult ed. Adult ed is on its own. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And that's just so everybody knows, I think it's important
011to say that the 41,391,792 that general fund amount for K-12 is up 2.8%. So, we got the 9.2% down to 2.8%. That's a 2.8% increase? Yes. And then the portion towards what that means as far as portion towards taxes it's um adult it doesn't really change. It's 546,455. And general fund is 18 million 459,000 for a total of 19 million 6,000 and 97 dollars. Can you give the adult ed again? 546,000 455. Thank you. And that's been consistent. So, >> [clears throat] >> for taxes compared to last year, we're up 136,000 dollars and 56 cents. Any questions from anybody on those figures? Any questions or concerns from any other board members regarding approving the budget numbers this evening? Hearing none, is a motion on the floor to approve this the 2026-27 budget. I guess in
012the total amount. Is that the number you want? 42 42 million 422,393 dollars. All those in favor, please raise your hands. Opposed? Upon vote of 5 to 1, the budget has been approved. And that concludes our special meeting. I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. Make a motion to adjourn this special meeting. Second. I'll second. Move to second to adjourn this tonight's meeting. Anybody opposed? I can tell this meeting adjourned. I'm going to walk two minutes.