Disclaimer: The views I express here are my own and should NOT be construed as speaking for the City of Bangor or the City Council of Bangor.
Click here to read the meeting agenda.
Thursday night’s Bangor City Council budget workshop had one item on the agenda — the school budget — but it packed in a conflict-of-interest vote, a frank discussion about aging school buildings, and a wide-ranging Q&A that touched on everything from special education trends to artificial intelligence in the classroom.
First Up: A Conflict-of-Interest Vote Over Councilor Mallar
Before the school budget presentation began, the council took up a tabled motion from a prior meeting. I moved to formally declare that Councilor Mallar has a “special interest” regarding the school budget, citing recorded statements Mallar made: “The school department’s asking for a 10% increase. As far as I’m concerned, they get no increase. They can’t speak English, read English, or write English. It’s not a disability. We do not have to furnish. They’re probably all illegals anyway.” (Click here for more on this by the Bangor Daily News.)
The concerning part for me isn’t just the language — it’s that Mallar explicitly tied his vote on school funding to who the students are. That’s not fiscal oversight. That’s discrimination, and it runs directly counter to the city’s Code of Ethics, which requires impartial and equitable treatment of all persons and explicitly prohibits discrimination based on national origin or cultural group.
Other councilors pushed back on the motion. Some felt they lacked the legal background to make that determination and would have preferred guidance from the city attorney. Others worried about a slippery slope — whether any strong opinion about a budget line item could be deemed a conflict.
I voted yes, along with Councilors Faloon, Walker, and Leonard. Voting no were Councilors Fish, Deane, Carson, and Hawes. The vote ended in a 4–4 tie, which means the motion failed. No conflict of interest was officially declared.
The Budget Itself: Good News on the Numbers
Superintendent Robinson presented the school department’s FY27 budget. The headline: the proposed increase has been brought down significantly through the budget process.
- Original ask: ~6.9% increase
- After initial revisions: 6.43%
- Current proposal: 5.58%
The biggest driver of the reduction was a better-than-expected health insurance outcome. The department had budgeted for a 20% increase in health insurance costs — a regional norm given the uncertainty — and ultimately came in at 8.6%, freeing up more than half a million dollars.
The district also received a one-time additional state subsidy tied to its disadvantaged student population (which exceeds the 40% threshold for eligibility). Specifics on how those funds must be used are still being worked out with the state.
The budget was unanimously approved by the School Committee before coming to the council. Superintendent Robinson emphasized that the vast majority of the budget is people — teachers, ed techs, counselors, coaches, and administrators serving roughly 3,700 students across the city.
It’s also worth understanding what this budget increase actually means for Bangor taxpayers. Of the total $3.46 million increase, only about $804,000 — roughly 23% — comes from the local share. The state is picking up the remaining $2.68 million. Put another way, for every dollar of additional local investment in our schools, the state is contributing $3.33. That’s not a bad return on investment when we’re talking about the education of 3,700 Bangor kids.
Fairmount School: The Disruption Nobody Wanted
The closure and relocation of students from Fairmount School came up repeatedly throughout the evening. Superintendent Robinson confirmed the transition costs are covered within existing budget contingencies and won’t require additional appropriations.
Still, councilors and committee members acknowledged the disruption has been real — particularly for families who chose their neighborhood because of proximity to Fairmount, and for students in special education programs for whom transitions are especially difficult. The superintendent said attendance has not been significantly impacted, and counseling and social work supports are in place.
At Thursday’s meeting, I disclosed that I’m a Fairmount parent myself. I acknowledged how hard this has been for families and that parents want as much information as they can get — I’m right there with them. But I also wanted to offer some encouragement: my youngest is actually looking at this as an adventure — same friends, same teachers, just a new building and maybe some new faces along the way. I urged the school to keep reinforcing that kind of thinking with kids, because our kids are going to get through this.
Facilities: An Accelerating Problem
One of the most substantive threads of the evening was an honest conversation about the state of Bangor’s school buildings. An enrollment study conducted last year projects a steady decline through 2035, and the buildings themselves are aging — Fairmount’s situation being only the most visible example.
The superintendent noted that a needs assessment was submitted to the state in August 2024 for Downeast, Fairmount, and Mary Snow schools, and the state has walked through the buildings. However, Bangor is on a very long state list — 98 schools statewide are seeking subsidized construction funding, and only the top two projects have been funded so far.
Several councilors floated the idea of a joint city-school working group to inventory both school buildings and city-owned properties, looking for opportunities to share or repurpose space. Councilor Leonard pushed for moving from conversation to action, suggesting a prioritized list — similar to how the city manages its wastewater infrastructure — so that the most critical needs get addressed first.
The superintendent was candid: the accelerated timeline forced by Fairmount’s condition has meant less community input than anyone wanted, and the neighborhood school concept remains deeply important to Bangor families. Any long-term reconfiguration will require significant public engagement.
Special Education, Early Intervention, and the 501(c)(3) Plan
Councilors asked about the rising cost and prevalence of special education services. The superintendent pointed to an encouraging development: the state is transitioning Child Development Services (early intervention, birth to age 4) into the school system, funded by the state. This should help identify students with special needs earlier — and research consistently shows early intervention pays off long-term. The district plans to begin serving four-year-olds in fall 2026, with three-year-olds to follow.
On the funding side, the superintendent revealed plans to establish a 501(c)(3) nonprofit affiliated with the school department. In her previous district, a similar organization generated over $250,000 from a $5 operating budget by unlocking private grants that public schools cannot access directly. The School Committee is holding a workshop on this in early June.
The Enrollment Picture: Complicated, But Not Alarming
School Committee Member Sprague pushed back on framing enrollment as a crisis, noting that Bangor actually saw an uptick last year. But the picture is complicated — the gain was modest, the longer-term projection through 2035 still shows a gradual decline, and the superintendent acknowledged the numbers fluctuate year to year. Any broader trend, Mr. Sprague noted, reflects Maine’s statewide reality as the state with the lowest birth rate and oldest population in the country — not a failure of the Bangor school system.
One More Topic: AI in the Classroom
Near the end of the meeting, Councilor Leonard raised concerns about artificial intelligence in education — noting he’d seen a student use AI to complete a “describe yourself” writing exercise and worrying about the long-term impact on literacy and critical thinking. The superintendent acknowledged the tension: schools need to prepare students for a world where AI is everywhere, but not at the expense of foundational skills. She noted the department is actively discussing how to use AI as a tool for teachers and administrators while protecting the development of independent thinking in students.
Bottom Line
Thursday’s workshop reflected a school department that has done serious work to bring its budget request down and a community grappling with the realities of aging infrastructure and shifting demographics. The Fairmount situation has forced conversations that were probably coming anyway — and the question now is whether the city and the school system can coordinate proactively enough to get ahead of the next crisis.
The school budget now heads toward final council action next month.
