PARIS – Now, six years later, SAD 17 officials are satisfied that switching to a secret ballot referendum for voting on the school budget was the way to go.

After all, despite increases, the budget has been passed each year, said district Business Manager Cathy Fanjoy.

“We’ve actually been pretty fortunate,” she said. “This is our sixth year in a row of successful referendums.”

Voters going to the polls June 8 will for the first time see explanations that simplify the wording of the warrant items. For several years, people have complained that the required form “has been confusing,” said Superintendent Mark Eastman.

Eastman said the bond council advised the district to include the explanations this year, in keeping with the wishes of the Legislature.

Fanjoy said that isn’t always the case when school districts give up the town meeting-style meeting. That voting process used to draw 75 to 100 people “where everyone would debate and then vote.”

She credits the district’s success with the secret ballot referendum with the fact that it holds informational meetings early in the budget process, in each of the eight SAD 17 towns.

At a public hearing on the $30 million budget last week, only two people attended who were not either a director or district employee, she said.

After the budget presentation, there was little questioning of the budget itself. Rather, she said, the discussion focused on what’s going to happen to state educational funding in coming years.

“The (public) hearing is required by law, so we do it,” she said. She acknowledged that attendance at the public hearing has declined each year, but said the secret ballot process allows voters to “state their opinion anonymously by going to the polls.”

Fanjoy said a detailed annual report and budget proposal is mailed to district voters, and that anyone can go online to the district’s Web site, www.sad17.k12.me.us, to view more budget details.

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