News

SAU 6 Annual Election Preview

By Tyler Maheu
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
CLAREMONT — On Tuesday, March 14, the city of Claremont will hold its annual school district (SAU 6) election.

This year’s ballot features two tightly contested battles for school board seats, two individuals running unopposed, a write-in only position, and the culmination of discussions on the school budget.

Two three-year term school board seats are open. Nicholas Stone, Frank Sprague, and Arlene Hawkins are each seeking a seat. For the lone one-year term vacancy, Michael Petrin and Jennifer Gallagher are competing for the seat. Tracy Pope is running unopposed for the district’s moderator position, as is Jane Hunter for the role of treasurer.

According to an official from SAU 6, the school district clerk position is vacant because nobody from the city put their name in. The district hopes that an individual will get a large number of write-in votes and take the job.

The only other article up for vote this year is Article Two, the main budget. The article reads as follows:

Shall the Claremont School District raise and appropriate as an operating budget the amounts set forth on the budget posted with the warrant or as amended by vote of the first session and second session, for the purposes set forth therein, totaling $38,345,312.

Should this article be defeated, the default budget will be $36,942,948, which is the same as last year, with certain adjustments required by previous action of the Claremont School District or by law.

Or, the governing body may hold one special meeting, in accordance with RSA 40:13, X and XVI, to take up the issue of a revised operating budget only. A majority vote will be needed to pass the budget, which has been recommended for approval by the school board.

The article continues with Note A: The above operating budget includes the sum necessary to fund the first year of a two-year collective bargaining agreement reached between the Claremont School Board and the Sugar River Education Association (teachers), which calls for the following estimated increases in salaries and benefits:

Fiscal Year Est. Increase

2023-24 $ 1,002,364

2024-25 $ 573,097

A favorable vote on this article main budget shall be considered not only the approval of the proposed operating budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year, but also the approval of the cost item set forth under Note A above, such sums representing the additional costs attributable to the increase in salaries and benefits required by the new agreement over those that would be paid at current staffing levels in accordance with the most recent collective bargaining agreement.

Voting will take place from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. in two locations, depending on which ward Claremont residents live in. Wards 1 and 2 will vote at Claremont Middle School, 107 South St. Ward 3 residents will vote at Disnard Elementary School, 160 Hanover St.

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