Pentucket budget still needs approval after vote Thursday

Jim Sullivan, The Daily News of Newburyport, Mass.
·2 min read

Mar. 11—WEST NEWBURY — Members of the Pentucket Regional School Committee thought they approved a $49.3 million operating budget in a 5-3 vote Thursday night. But the superintendent later said the approval was invalid and an emergency meeting will need to be held Friday evening.

The committee was considering four potential budget scenarios for 2022-23 heading into its meeting in the Pentucket Regional Middle School cafeteria. The towns of Groveland, Merrimac and West Newbury comprise the school district.

But Superintendent Justin Bartholomew and Business Manager Greg Labrecque provided the committee with two more alternative budgets that were not presented to the public at the beginning of the meeting.

After some debate, the committee eventually voted 5-3 to approve the $49.3 million budget — a $2.5 million increase in last year's $46.8 million allocation. It could potentially trigger a $367,358 override for Groveland, a $504,352 override for Merrimac and a $334,914 override for West Newbury.

Committee members Dena Trotta, Wayne Adams, Marie Felzani, Chris Markuns and Richard Hodges voted for the budget while Joanna Blanchard, Emily Dwyer and Chris Reading were opposed. Groveland committee member Ashley McLaughlin was not present.

"I think we could sell (this) version," Hodges said.

But Bartholomew told The Daily News later that evening that he consulted with the school district's legal counsel and was told that since the budget was not approved with at least a two-thirds vote, it was invalid and will need to be voted on again.

"As of right now, we do not have an approved budget," Bartholomew said. "We needed to have a weighted vote of six this evening and we did not."

The superintendent said a hybrid emergency meeting will be held in the middle school cafeteria Friday at 5:30 p.m.

"The budget has to go to the towns and they have to have it by Monday," Bartholomew said.

Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.