Montpelier voters braved the rain Tuesday to pass a new, slightly slimmer school budget by a vote of 914 to 565. The new budget came in at $17,826,803, trimming $158,266 from the $17,985,069 budget voters rejected 1,211 to 1,130 on Town Meeting Day.
Sean Sheehan, who brought his 5-year-old son Owen with him to the polls, voted yes because he felt that the school board did its best to craft a budget under adverse circumstances.
“I think a lot of what was causing the budgets to go up in Montpelier was more a factor of the property values and statewide spending,” he said. “I think our school board did a diligent job of looking what they could do, and I think they came up with a responsible budget.”
Ann O’Leary, who voted “no,” expressed her reason both bluntly and succinctly. “I voted “no” because our taxes are out of sight,” she said.
According to School Board Chair Sue Aldrich, the previous “no” vote galvanized voters who supported the budget to show up at the polls. “I think that the first time, people were very complacent and thought the budget would pass no matter what because that had always been the culture in Montpelier. After the first budget failed, I had a number of people call me and say ‘I’m so sorry. I went home. It was so cold. I assumed it would pass, and I feel terrible that it didn’t.’ The first budget lost by 81 votes, and it really mobilized people.”
The passage of the budget likely represents the beginning of a longer conversation about funding for Montpelier schools. On Monday, Superintendent Brian Ricca issued a call for volunteers to serve on a new budget/finance committee designed to come up with ideas for better controlling education spending in the city. The committee will meet biweekly from May through October.