School Deliberative Session is Tonight

Voters are encouraged to make their way to the James Mastricola Upper Elementary School tonight for the first part of the town's annual meeting, which will determine spending for the 2012-13 school year.

During tonight's deliberative session, voters will have the chance to do just that, deliberate on the articles that make up this year's seven-article warrant.

Last month, the school budget committee voted to join the school board in recommending a $65.5 million budget that includes $615,000 to repair a leaky roof at James Mastricola Upper Elementary School.

The budget also includes several cuts to teacher positions, an issue that has recently become controversial after the school board voted Feb. 6 to comply with Senate Bill 196, which requires school districts use some other criteria when making reductions in force, other than seniority.

The board voted to consider first a teacher's level of education, then their seniority in making reduction in force decisions.

Before making a decision, a request was made of the teachers' union come to a sidebar agreement, since adding a second criteria would effectively violate the collective bargaining agreement the two entities reached last year. But according to meeting minutes from Feb. 6, School Board Chairwoman Jody Vaillancourt said the union refused.

At the school board's Feb. 21 meeting, several teachers and members of the community turned out to speak in opposition of the decision, citing concerns that the district could end up losing valuable members of the teaching staff in the district who have worked in Merrimack for years who've attained a masters degree, for example, because it was never necessary before.

Similar concerns were brought up by members of the school board during their Feb. 6 meeting, according to the minutes, but given the law, it was a position in which the board felt its hands were tied and must choose being in compliance with the law even if it violated the contract.

The budget calls for the removal of a fourth-grade teacher at Mastricola Elementary School, a third-grade teacher at Reeds Ferry Elementary School, a second- and fourth-grade teacher at Thorntons Ferry Elementary School, a sixth-grade teacher at Mastricola Upper Elementary School, a math teacher and a special education teacher at the high school and one assistant principal at the high school. An administrative assistant at the high school was also removed, as were half of two full time kindergarten assistants at Mastricola and Reeds Ferry elementary schools and one Gateway teacher at the district-wide level.

The budget is essentially level-funded from last year, according to Budget Committee Chairman Andy Schneider, and could be reduced even more by a warrant article for the that gives the support staff an average 2.75 percent raise over the net three years, but saves the town money because of concessions made during negotiations as they relate to health care.

In its first year the contract would save the district $181,000. It would save another 160,384 in the second year (2013-14) and $16,193 in the third year (2014-15).

Both the budget committee and the school board recommend this article.

Each board also recommends a third money-related articles, which seeks $110,000 to improve the parking and congestion issues at Reeds Ferry Elementary School. Of the $110,000, $65,000 would come from capital reserve and $45,000 would come from taxes.

Voters will have the opportunity to discuss all of these articles and make amendments to them, as well as other non-monetary articles including .

The full warrant and additional handouts that will be distributed tonight are also available online on the SAU 26 website.

The deliberative session begins at 7 p.m. Official voting on these articles, as amended if they are, will be voted on on April 10 during the town's second part of the annual meeting, a ballot election.