Henniker residents will vote on a proposed school budget and two contracts that would raise the school tax rate about 5% following a quiet deliberative session Monday night.
The proposed operating budget is $9.1 million, up 2.5% or $221,000 from the budget approved last year. Unusually, the budget is slightly less than the default budget that would go into effect if voters reject the plan because it would interfere with federal money available for COVID-19 relief. The default budget would also raise the tax rate by 10 cents more per $100,000 of assessed valuation.
That federal grant includes $66,411 to pay for an elementary teacher, which will continue for two more years, according to the presentation by Deb Urbaitis, chair of the Henniker School Board.
If the proposed budget and contracts pass, the tax rate would rise an estimated 61 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation, increasing the annual bill on a $350,000 house by $213.50.
According to the presentation, an increase in health care costs for the district accounts for four-fifths of the proposed tax increase.
All items on the warrant were approved without amendments or discussion from the floor in a meeting that lasted barely half an hour. They will be voted on by ballot on election day, March 8. The district covers the Henniker Community School, which has 401 students in pre-K through grade 8.
In his introductory comments, Moderator Cordell Johnson made semi-joking reference to the way many public meetings have become heated in recent times.
“If anybody becomes unruly, needs to be removed from the meeting, or fined $1 for not being quiet when asked to stop speaking … I’m quite sure none of that will become necessary,” he said.
State law (RSA 40:7) allows moderators to fine people $1 if they “speak in any meeting without leave of the moderator” or interrupt anybody who is speaking with permission.
Voters will also see two proposed contracts, one for the teachers and one for the support staff, which is mostly made up of paraprofessionals.
The contract would increase starting pay for paraprofessionals, certified employees who assist students under the guidance of teachers, from $12.36 to $15 an hour, according to the presentation by School Board member Ellen Fioretti.
She noted that the positions receive neither retirement pay nor health insurance and said that currently, six paraprofessional slots are unfilled.
The proposed support staff contract with increases costs an estimated $85,507 next year and $22,585 the year after.
The proposed two-year teacher contract includes pay raises of 4.13% to 4.3%, which increase costs about $125,000 each year.
