'New' School Committee to Decide on 2012 School Budget

The School Committee will at least one new member before coming up with the school budget number that will be put before Hamilton voters later this summer.

Hamilton still needs to approve a 2012 school budget and the School Committee now is in the . It has until June 13 to recertify a new budget.

While at Town Meeting earlier this month, Hamilton Town Meeting .

On Wednesday night, the nine-member committee agreed to have the “new” committee vote on a new budget. On Thursday, there are and at least one new member will be elected because Lauren Prior is not seeking reelection.

Even if Hamilton’s vote isn’t complete before the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1, the school operations will continue.

Assistant Superintendent Peter Gray said the schools would continue, month-by-month, with a one-twelfth budget based on the 2011 budget, he said.

“The lights will stay on,” said Chairman Alexa McCloughan.

Hamilton has 10 days to respond to the School Committee after a new budget has been recertified and set a date and 45 days for the meeting to occur.

The earliest the newly formed committee could vote on a budget is June 9, McCloughan said.

Don Gallant, chairman of the committee’s Finance Working Group, said he suggested a $300,000 “giveback,” a term that’s been used to represent the decrease in total money the school district would collect from the towns, combined, in the next year.

“It’s more or less half way between the zero from Wenham and the $500,000 from Hamilton, he said, noting the two Town Meeting votes.

Wenham voted for the School Committee’s budget while Hamilton voted in favor a combined $500,000 giveback from the two towns.

Ann Minois, one of the three members of the finance committee that sent the budget to the full Committee, noted that the budget Gallant is recommending be the same as the one recommended to the Committee before the Town Meetings. The School Committee ended up increasing the number it sent to the Town Meetings.

The Committee has also scheduled a meeting for Tuesday, May 31 when the committee will vote to select an interim superintendent to replace Dr. Raleigh Buchanan, after reaching a “mutual agreement’ with the School Committee.