An Act to Amend the Charter of the Boothbay-Boothbay Harbor
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 2111
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: STOVER

Legislative Document
No. 2111
H.P. 1426
House of Representatives, January 7, 2026
An Act to Amend the Charter of the Boothbay-Boothbay Harbor 
Community School District
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203.
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative STOVER of Boothbay.
Cosponsored by Senator: RENY of Lincoln.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  P&SL 1953, c. 156, §3, as repealed and replaced by P&SL 2023, c. 12, §1, 
is amended to read:
Sec. 3.  Board of trustees; district school committee.  Except as provided by 
this Act, the board of trustees and district school committee have the duties and authority 
pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, chapter 105.  The board of trustees may 
shall act as a building and facilities governing committee and has authority over capital 
expenditures and the district's capital reserve fund, including authority in consultation with 
the district school committee over the budget for maintaining, repairing, replacing and 
improving the community school district's buildings and other facilities and over the 
district's capital reserve funds for noninstructional capital purchases.  The board and the 
district school committee shall jointly create bylaws or procedures as necessary to further 
assist them in the understanding of and execution of their duties and responsibilities to the 
community school district.  The Notwithstanding Title 20-A, section 1651, subsection 4, 
the community school district may not vote in accordance with Title 20-A, section 1651, 
subsection 4 to have the district school committee perform the duties of the board of 
trustees.
Sec. 2.  P&SL 1953, c. 156, §5, as repealed and replaced by P&SL 2023, c. 12, §1, 
is amended to read:
Sec. 5.  Borrowing authority; voter authorization.  Except as provided by this 
Act, the board of trustees has the authority to borrow pursuant to the Maine Revised 
Statutes, Title 20-A, section 1651, subsection 2, paragraph E.  Capital project bonds or 
notes of the community school district that are general obligations must be approved by the 
district voters.  The board of trustees shall issue a warrant to initiate a district referendum 
meeting on a general obligation capital bond issue of $250,000 or more and a warrant to 
initiate either a district meeting or district referendum on a general obligation bond issue 
in an amount of less than $250,000.
Sec. 3.  P&SL 1953, c. 156, §6, as repealed and replaced by P&SL 2023, c. 12, §1, 
is repealed and the following enacted in its place:
Sec. 6.  Budget approval.  The board of trustees shall prepare the revenues and 
expenditures for the capital portion of the budget in accordance with section 3. The district 
school committee shall prepare the revenues and expenditures for the operating portion of 
the budget. The district school committee shall integrate the capital and operating portions 
of the budget into cost centers in accordance with the cost center summary budget format 
and shall submit the budget to the budget meeting for the budget validation referendum 
procedure under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, chapter 105, subchapter 3. The 
board of trustees may prepare other articles related to capital needs, such as capital reserve 
fund articles, for the budget meeting. The district school committee shall include these 
articles in the warrant for the budget meeting.
SUMMARY
This bill amends the charter of the Boothbay-Boothbay Harbor Community School 
District to require the district's board of trustees to act as a building and facilities governing 
committee. It reserves authority over capital expenditures and the district's capital reserve 
fund for the board of trustees and prohibits the district from voting to have the district 
school committee perform the duties of the board of trustees.  It directs the board of trustees 
and the district school committee to jointly create bylaws or procedures as necessary.
It removes language requiring the board of trustees to issue a warrant to initiate either 
a district meeting or district referendum on a general obligation bond issue in an amount of 
less than $250,000.
It directs the board of trustees to prepare the revenues and expenditures for the capital 
portion of the budget and the district school committee the operating portion. The district 
school committee is directed to integrate those portions and submit the budget to the budget 
meeting for the budget validation referendum procedure.