Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct details about the Washington Street School warrant article and to add additional information about the other warrant articles.
A year after Merrimack Valley voters rejected their school board’s proposed budget, residents will gather Thursday for a potential repeat of that fight.
This year’s proposed budget, including a new contract with the educators’ union, would amount to a 4.9% increase. Loudon resident Terese Bastarache, who led the budget trimming effort last year, said in an interview last month that she will attempt to limit the total increase to 3%.
A lot has changed since last year’s budget process that could lead to a different result. The school board has engaged in a concerted public information initiative to regain community trust and has discontinued the criticized practice of including vacant positions it doesn’t expect to fill in the budget in order to have leftover funds at the end of the year.
More information about the budget can be found on the district’s website and in previous Concord Monitor coverage.
Voters will also cast ballots in four school board races, though only one is contested. Loudon resident Amanda York, who was appointed last year to fill a vacancy, is running unopposed. Newcomers Spencer Dickinson of Penacook and Ryan Gunn of Boscawen are also running unopposed.
The lone competition is for the district’s at-large seat: Incumbent Jessica Wheeler Russell of Penacook will face off against Republican state Rep. Louise Andrus of Salisbury.
In addition to the budget, voters will weigh in on a series of warrant articles, including:
- Open enrollment: Like many school districts, the school board has introduced a warrant article that would prevent students from enrolling in other districts at Merrimack Valley’s expense. It would allow a very small number of students from other districts to enroll in Merrimack Valley schools.
- School consolidation: A non-binding, resident-initiated effort to consolidate the Salisbury and Webster Elementary Schools. If the warrant article passes, it would authorize the school board to begin the process of updating its articles of agreement to allow for the consolidation. The school board would not be required to take that action, however, according to Superintendent Randy Wormald.
- The last annual meeting?: A resident-initiated petition to change the style of the annual budget vote from a meeting to a ballot vote. This article is binding. If the article is passed, the district would adopt what is known as an SB2 meeting structure.
- Funding the Washington Street School renovation: A resident-initiated petition that appears to seek to prevent the school district from allocating out-of-district tuition payments received to finance the renovation of the Washington Street School, which houses a district-run special education program. Due to the way the article was written, Wormald said he did not completely understand its intent or impact.
Voters can cast ballots in the school board election from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday at the high school. The annual meeting will follow, starting at 7 p.m.