A behind-the-scenes conflict over who has final say on how to enforce mask mandates during annual meetings proved unnecessary Friday as the John Stark School District deliberative session raced through the entire warrant in less than an hour and without incident.
In email exchanges on Thursday and Friday, Weare Police Chief Christopher Moore told meeting moderator Luther Drake that the town Board of Selectmen, not Drake, was the authority on mask rules. The selectmen had decided that enforcement of pandemic mask ordinances in town buildings must be “non-confrontational,” because of concerns about injuries or liability from detention or arrests.
That decision, Moore wrote, overrode state law (RSA 40:8) that allows moderators to “command any…police officer to remove such disorderly person from the meeting and detain such person until the business is finished.” As a result, Moore said his officers would not physically remove anybody who defied Drake’s rules during the meeting.
Moore sent the email in response to an incident Wednesday at the Weare School District deliberative session, also moderated by Drake. Weare is part of the John Stark School District.
Weare School Board member Daniel Recupero refused to sit in the section of the room reserved for people who chose not to wear a mask, but residents voted 17-16 to allow him to remain in his seat with the other board members, and no action was taken.
In the email exchange with Moore, Drake argued that John Stark High School, site of Friday’s meeting, isn’t a town building since it is owned by the school district, and that state law gives moderators the final say in how annual meetings will be conducted. Drake wrote that he was getting advice from the school district attorney and state attorney general’s office and that if it became necessary he would call the state police to eject anybody who didn’t follow rules.
At the start of Friday’s deliberative session, Drake read his rules for the evening, including that if anybody behaved in a “disorderly manner” then he “may have a police officer or any legal voter of the town remove the person.” But the meeting, attended by fewer than 20 people, sailed through without incident and was concluded after 50 minutes.
All warrants were approved without change and will go on the ballot to be considered by voters in the two towns on election day, March 8. They are:
■An operating budget of $14.29 million, which is $207,000 or 1.43% less than the current budget. The default budget, which would go into effect if this budget is rejected, is the same amount.
The decline was possible partly due to a reduction of three staffers in response to continued shrinking in enrollment at the high school, which has gone from 875 students in 2009 to 587 in 2021, as well as federal grants in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
■A three-year teachers contract that includes average wage hikes of 4.2% and some changes to the healthcare program.
The hikes would raise the starting salary from $38,197 to $41,739 and raise the average salary from $57,329 to $63,978. School officials said the increase was necessary to keep teachers from moving to nearby districts that pay more.
It would cost roughly an extra $190,000 each of the three years.
■A two-year contract with the Support Personnel Association. It would give hefty raises in the first year – an average of 13% for food service and custodians, and 8% for office staff and paraprofessionals – and a 2% increase the second year, raising the average hourly rate from $17.49 to $19.42. It would cost $102,000 more the first year and $25,000 the second year.
