Committee looks over draft school budget with a decrease, renews school resource officer agreement, and learns more kids are missing less school days so far this year.
Nov 08, 2025
MOUNT DESERT—Frustrated after months without communication, Mount Desert school officials say they’ve been “ghosted” by the architecture firm hired to oversee a $6 million renovation project and will now seek new partners to get the long-awaited work underway.
School committee members approved another year of their school resource officer agreement this week while reporting a lower draft budget and improvement in chronic absenteeism rates.
At town meeting in May 2025, the voters approved a $6 million bond for school upgrades and building repairs.
Repairs needed include a new roof and maintenance shed, renovations to the kitchen, building’s envelope, the building itself, security and parking improvements as well as a playground upgrade.
“Our building subcommittee has continued to work with Steven Blatt Architects to develop a plan for significant maintenance and building improvements for the Mount Desert Elementary School….” Public Works Director and MDES School Committee Chair Brian Henkel said in the town report. “One key area that needs to be addressed is the overall building envelope. We are looking to replace windows that are at the end of their useful life. The brick veneer needs to be repaired to keep the elements out and warmth in. The current roof covering is nearing the end of its useful life. The maintenance shed is in need of replacement. We are also looking to make security and kitchen delivery improvements as well as parking and playground upgrades.”
Steven Blatt Architects had been highly recommended when the project began, Henkel explained.
“We’ve been working for a long time on keeping this going,” Henkel said. There has been difficulty communicating with the current firm. “They’re not doing work. So, they aren’t charging us for doing the work.”
Now, he said, they are frustrated by the lack of progress. They will now send out an RFQ (request for qualifications) for engagement with another firm. They will target engagement with three firms and also public channels.
“We’ve been ghosted,” one committee member said.
“We’re really hoping we can get something happening this summer,” Principal Heather Dorr told school committee members. The expectation is that the building envelope will begin in summer. Bids will go out for the construction April 1.
“No communication is the worst kind of communication,” one said.
Town staff said it took months of calling to get original paperwork.
“It’s an unfortunate situation to be in, but I think we have to do this,” Henkel said.
“Everybody has met their obligation,” School Superintendent Mike Zboray said.
The preliminary work was the initial contract. Design work and estimates were the second.
Will they be able to get the work done next summer was a major question for committee members.
“We still feel confident,” Henkel said.
BUDGET SUMMARY
Dorr presented her initial draft budget and the overall budget is decreased by $181,193 from $4,329,972 to $4,167,614.
The estimated carryover from last year is $165,393.
“You’ll notice differences in our favor for regular instruction for teacher salaries,” she said. The substitute line has been a bit hefty due to absences and leave. The gifted and talented teacher who is “truly a unicorn” was more than initially budgeted.
However, there are still pieces that are unknown such as health insurance issues.
“What is the scary estimate of what will happen?” committee member Gail Marshall asked.
“We don’t know,” Zboray said.
Dorr said that the garden/greenhouse coordinator is under the ed tech agreement. Bar Harbor Garden Club supplemented it this summer which allowed the garden to continue despite the lack of rain and eventual drought conditions.
SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER
A split committee renewed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the school resource officer, as had the Conners Emerson School Committee earlier the same week.
Officer Elias Burne, who is employed by and paid for by Bar Harbor, is the school resource officer. He is currently out on paternity leave. He succeeds Tim Bland who resigned from the police force in April of 2024.
Three island schools have been served by the position and Burne splits his time at the two elementary schools and Mount Desert Island High School.
Marshall said there’d been a long discussion at the high school board meeting about the position and it has not yet been renewed there.
“I still think that as a school committee we need to ask ourselves what is the role of police in our communities and our society and what is it we want to promote in terms of their presence,” Marshall said.
She worried about the glossing over of how the school system models and teaches the role of police in society.
Policy and respect for staff and previous work involved in creating the yearly agreement will make her still vote for it, she said.
Zboray said that having partnerships can be really successful for a child. “Regardless of who it is, whether it is a police officer or a social worker.”
Who is put into the role, he said, is terribly important and the way the MOU is written, “we have a voice if that person fits and complies,” he said.
Marshall added that since the agreement began, police departments have changed and officers’ perceptions of their jobs have changed.
“They now have a social worker on staff,” she said.
They have a mental health liaison who helps officers with calls.
Discussion included that the origin of the position came from the police department and not the schools and that Police Chief David Kerns (who was not at the meeting) had at one point said, “Civic responsibility is all of our responsibility.”
Like Marshall, other committee members said they’d had reservations, but also that they were in “a world of silos and binary thinking,” as expressed by member Katherine Emery.
However, “In a small community,” Emery said, “we all have a lot of roles.”
Dorr said Officer Elias is at the school one day a week (sometimes two mornings). They check in, have conversations about school security, emergency protocols, and he often connects with other resources within the department.
Student-facing roles includes just building relationships. “He visits our school cafeteria and school playground and checks in with students.”
There was a situation that involved a student’s wellbeing and safety and he connected that family with a resource for the family, Dorr said. She surveyed staff last year about the MOU and a couple were uncomfortable with it, but there is increased comfort now. A parent reached out last year and a teacher last year who expressed concern about the nature of the position, she said.
There have been two incidents were there was input or a heads-up about a potential threat to safety that was from outside the building that Officer Elias alerted them to.
There have been no student complaints about him being there.
Other worries brought forth included how an officer’s presence might conflict with work against racism, whether there had been concerns about ICE.
There have been no concerns about ICE brought forward. The school has a protocol for ICE agents if they approached the campus.
Marshall would like the officer to teach students about the role of police in society and the positive and negative ways that interactions can occur.
“I just don’t think kids should think that everyone is Officer Friendly,” Marshall said.
Member Katherine Dube opposed, saying, “I really fundamentally disagree with it.”
“It is a lot to do with who we are and where we are and how we have this structure,” Henkel said and that’s why his thinking about it has shifted and he can support the position.
CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM
“We’re off to a good start with our attendance,” Dorr said.
Dorr said that the chronic absentee rate is 11.9%. Last year at this time, the rate was 18%.
Students who are chronically absent have been absent at least 4.5 days so far this school year.
Kids who might not feel as connected with the school community are checked in by an adult on staff to make sure they are doing well. The nurse and social worker are also connecting and supporting with parents.
“It’s made a positive impact,” Dorr said.
The average daily attendance rate for October 2025 is 94.91% (up from 93.14% in October 2024).
The average daily attendance for the school year, so far, is 95.25% (Up from 94.04% October 2024).
TRANSPORTATION UPDATE
Concerns about a lack of bus drivers continue but the school has been working to create solutions while they are short-staff, and Dorr is going to attend Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT) course, which is scheduled for November 10-14 and is open to AOS #91 employees. An ed tech will be taking it as well.
“It sounds exciting and promising,” she said.
The difficulty is that participants need to log 80 hours of practice driving in a school bus before being eligible for the drivers test.
“Taking the course is the first step,” she said.
She also wanted to acknowledge the training and skill of the school’s drivers who possess these endorsements. They are in high demand and highly valued, she said.
“Bus drivers put in a lot of time. There’s a high expectation” of skill and responsibility, Dorr explained. “I appreciate the drivers we do have.”
And credentialing?
“It’s not easy to get,” she said.
State law requires schools to transport students part of the way or the whole way to school.
Marshall said, “This is a state-wide problem.”
She asked if there was any state government program to create real opportunities, incentives or infrastructure to encourage more people to become bus drivers.
The state has changed some of the rules about the process and also about van usage, Zboray said. Superintendents are also talking about how difficult it is to find drivers, he said.
The regional school system is looking at different ways of organizing routes and drivers despite if they erased town lines and what would it look like, Zboray said.
Committee Chair Brian Henkel suggested Zboray have a conversation with state Senator Nicole Grohoski and state Representative Gary Friedmann about potential or current state legislative initiatives.
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Rick Osann Art.
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