New Budget Brings Big Cuts to Schools, Jobs Lost

The Portsmouth Town Council approved a new budget Wednesday night that added deep cuts to an already reduced school budget.

The School Committee had originally requested $1.2 million in funding from the town, which was reduced by $631,000 in an earlier version of the budget. That budget exceeded the tax cap by more than $502,000 and, without enough votes to raise the cap, the council became deadlocked. 

The meeting was recessed until Wednesday night, where the council voted on a new budget that cut an additional $502,131 from the schools.

School committee Chairman Richard Carpender addressed the council at the beginning of the meeting, telling them that such cuts would essentially "decimate the system."

Councilor Dennis Canario expressed his concern, saying he wished the council had supported the schools, while council president Peter McIntyre suggested teachers further reduce their salaries. Carpender responded that teachers had already reduced salaries by more than $800,000 in the last few years.

Later, council member Karen Gleason said she didn't think the school committee had "given full disclosure," after which Carpender rose out of his seat, exclaiming "This is out of line Mr. President!"

The budget passed with a 4-3 vote with Keith Hamilton, Canario and James Seveney in opposition.

The biggest cuts to Portsmouth schools' budget will come from the loss of salaries from laid-off teachers and teacher aides.

The largest of these cuts also come from the closing of the Elmhurst Elementary School, which would eliminate six administrators, three teachers and one custodian.

Program reductions equate to the loss of three high school teachers, five elementary school teachers and one special education teacher, as well as the reduction of one special educator position to half time.

Additional cuts involve the loss of one fifth-grade teacher, three part-time elementary aides, another special education teacher and special education teacher aide and one bus monitor. This is all on top of an additional $60,000 reduction in salaries.

Councilor Seveney called the budget's lack of school funding a "travesty," saying it would cause a "future set of problems," and he might be right.

The independent group, Save Our Schools, will need to collect 1,500 signatures in the next 10 days  to put a referendum on a ballot at a special meeting. If passed, the referendum would restore funding to the school via a raised property tax.

The tax hike would equate to about $59 a year for the average resident, the median home price being $350,000. If that fails, Carpender says legal options are still on the table.

"We have not voted to pursue the Caruolo option," said Carpender. The Caruolo Act allows a school department to sue a town over a funding dispute.

"We want to know what we have to do and how we have to do it," Carpender said.

In the meantime, the school committee has hired an attorney to represent them should they go to court.