School Officials Plan to Press on With Renovations

Despite months of planning, distributing information and local "get out the vote" campaigns, the effort to renovate Fisk, Haigh and Soule Elementary Schools was not fulfilled this year.

Article 2 on the school warrant, the $21.5 million bond that was , failed to receive the necessary 60 percent majority mandated by state law for passage Tuesday.

It received 3,654 yes votes and 2,928 no votes. It would have needed 3,950 votes in favor to pass.

Coming up short was a tough pill to swallow for School Board Chairman Peter Morgan, who expressed disappointment in the outcome Wednesday but saw promise for possibly passing renovations in the future.

"I think 3,600 yes votes means 3,600 people agreed it was a sound plan," Morgan said. "I'm pleased to see the number of yes votes. It means we're on the right track."

Like many others, Morgan felt the large turnout for the election was driven by the curbside trash pickup vote on the town side, and the numbers would indicate that to be true.

Of the 6,836 votes cast Tuesday, 6,819 ballots were cast for curbside trash referendum. Meanwhile, a total of 6,582 ballots were cast on Article 2.

Morgan reiterated that the plan for renovating all six Salem elementary schools is the right one and he expects the district will continue to follow the Facilities Master Plan.

"We may modify the plan for next year or we may bring it back," Morgan said. "It still needs to be done."

He also believed that with numerous spending measures on both sides of the ballot, and with curbside being defeated so soundly, the timing of the bond may have been the issue.

"This was, 'not this year,'" Morgan said. "It wasn't 'not ever.'"

SAU 57 Superintendent Michael Delahanty wasn't quite as optimistic as Morgan.

"I think the people who voted no will vote no forever," Delahanty said. "3,600 yes votes in a local election should have been able to carry the day."

When Delahanty learned the bond had failed, he said it felt like "a blow to the gut." He expressed disappointment for the teachers and students at the three schools and for the people who worked hard to get the bond passed.

"I'm disappointed for our community," Delahanty said. "This was a good opportunity to advance."

He echoed the sentiment of Morgan that next year the district will likely come forward with a similar plan and mentioned there could be some combination with needed work at the high school "so we don't lose a step in the process."

Delahanty addressed

"People gave it some level of merit and used it as a distraction," Delahanty said, adding it was introduced as an option by some because it wasn't on the ballot.

Delahanty believed the fervor over the curbside pickup referendum drove many "no" votes to the polls.

Delahanty said one portable classroom at Soule and two at Fisk will begin costing the district $40,000 per year to operate starting in July because the renovations did not pass.

The state previously bore the cost of the classrooms for school districts like Salem that did not have kindergarten before it was mandated three years ago. Delahanty said the state gave Salem three years to act, at which point the district would be responsible for paying for them.

Budget Committee member Everett McBride, who was elected selectman Tuesday, voted against the renovations when they came before the BudCom for a recommendation.

"I don't think the plan was cost-effective," McBride said Wednesday, adding the five-school option should have been explored more. "The School Board needs to look at all the options and then come back. We should give the new School Board (with newly-elected member Michael Carney, Jr.) a chance."

A significant silver lining for Morgan and Delahanty from Tuesday's election was the passage of five new contracts for the district's five collective bargaining units.

"There was an effort to drive yes votes on all of the school articles," Delahanty said. "We succeeded in doing that for the contracts."

He noted all of the unions had not received raises in either the last three or four years.

With all 10 union contracts passed on both the town and school sides, and many of them Sanbornized meaning one vote approved multiple years, Morgan viewed that as a positive development.

"I think we've entered a new era in Salem," Morgan said. "I'm very pleased to see the contracts pass by that wide of a margin."