Stratham voters OK all five warrant articles | SeacoastOnline.com

STRATHAM ? Consensus was the word of the day at the Stratham School District meeting Friday night, with all five warrant articles passing nearly unanimously, a single nay appeared as a beauty spot on the face of Article 1.

The first article up for discussion was the school budget. The school district requested a $9,584,502, an increase of $143,237, or 1.5 percent, over last year?s budget. A portion of the higher spending was incurred by an increase in retirement funding due to the state down-shifting costs.

?In recent years, we have seen costs passed down from the state after budget is passed,? said Susan Canada, a member of the Budget Advisory Committee. ?As a community, we expect high standards from our elected officials. The challenge is to accomplish this without significant budget increases. The budget tonight reflects commitment to education.?

The proposed change in tax impact for the budget alone would be 17 cents per thousand dollars of assessed value.

Next discussed was Article 2, which is this current year?s proposed teacher?s contract. Under the contract, the teachers will receive a salary increase tied to the cost of living adjustment and capped at 1 percent for the first year and 2.5 percent for the subsequent years. There will be an increase of $33,271 in fiscal year 2012-2013, and estimated increases of $118,939 and $130,591 in the subsequent two years. The contract will impact taxes by 2.8 cents in its first year. There will be increasing contributions by the teachers to their health plans, with the most common planning going to a 21 percent contribution by the end.

?After last year?s vote, we sat down with the leaders of the Stratham Teacher?s Association and worked to get a contract that the voters of Stratham will support,? said School Board Chairman Travis Thompson. ?Collectively, I think we have a very positive contract together this evening.?

?We were opposed for a number of reasons last year, but this year we endorse the proposal,? said David Canada, chairman of the Board of Selectmen. ?We have great respect for our teachers and the single most important factor in the equation is teacher caliber: Are they top notch? As such, they deserve good pay and good benefits. We would like to applaud teachers for listening to voters.?

A resident asked about the tax impact of the second and third years of the teachers? contract was. SAU 16 Superintendent Mike Morgan said the tax rate increase would be about 7 cents per thousand for the second year.

Article 3 called for transferring a $75,000 surplus from the general fund this year to the Special Education Trust Fund. The fund is different from standard special education budgeting because it is reserved for paying unanticipated education expenditures. The fund currently has $75,000 in it. The article will impact the tax rate by about 4 cents.

?The reason for this is that special education costs can rapidly accelerate due to unforeseen events,? said School Board member Mark Sykas. ?If a family moves into town with particularly difficult special education needs, it can easily run into six figures per child. ... The only way to deal with an unforeseen impact would be through layoffs and all the consequences that come with it.?

Article 4 was to raise and appropriate $100,000 for the Maintenance Trust Fund for the purpose of funding facility maintenance and improvement. This article will impact the tax rate by approximately 1 cent, due to the change in appropriation from last year?s appropriation of $90,000.

Article 5 allowed for reports from agents, auditors or Committees. Memorial School Principal Tom Fosher stood up to recognize a departing School Board member Claire Ellis.

?As we continue to move forward, there has been a woman who has really cared and made tremendous gains,? Fosher said. ?As a School Board and individual, we sorely are going to miss her. ... When she makes decisions and speaks her mind, she puts children first.?

Ellis received a standing ovation from the crowd.

The tax impact analysis, including the additional warrant article appropriations would be $0.25, raising the tax impact from $6.87 to $7.12 per thousand dollars of assessed property value. Property worth $300,000 would see taxes rise from $2,062 to $2,136, an increase of $74.

In contrast to the school district meeting last year, when the teacher?s contract was voted down, School Board member Luke Pickett mused on local politics: ?This shows that democracy works and ?compromise? isn?t a dirty word.?

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Source: http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20120310-NEWS-120319986

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