Signatures Top 2,000

The independent group Save Our Schools (SOS) has collected more than 2,000 signatures, according to the SOS blog on Tuesday.

SOS canvassed neighborhoods, the beach and transfer station this weekend in order to gather the necessary signatures needed for a referendum.

Those names will be presented to the town clerk this morning. The Board of Canvassers will now have two weeks to verify those names.

According to SOS, once the names have been certified, an election could be held as early as Sept. 28 or Oct. 4.

On July 29, the SOS group submitted an official request for a referendum, asking for an additional $765,301 for the Portsmouth schools.

According to SOS, the amount represents a total school budget request of $36,293,021 or a 1.5 percent increase from fiscal year 2010.

If successful, according to SOS organizers, the referendum would increase taxes $0.204 per thousand or $71.44 annually for a home valued at $350,000.

"Thanks goes to all the canvassers who assisted at the successful Sign & Drive and transfer station, walked neighborhoods and brought petitions to friends and family," wrote Dave Croston on the SOS blog. "We had over 40 volunteers who I simply can't thank enough!

"I want to personnally thank John McDaid, Jim Seveney, Dennis Canario and Len Katzman for their leadership and support during the campaign. These gentlemen deserve a great deal of credit for our success. And, of course, thank you to everyone who took time out to sign!"

Croston, who is also running for School Committee this year, is the SOS founder and spearheading the Sign and Drive campaign.

For more information about the Sign and Drive campaign or SOS, visit http://sosportsmouth.blogspot.com.