Voter approval of budget, three contracts would increase tax rate .89 cents
By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
CLAREMONT, N.H. — The Claremont School Board held a public hearing on Wednesday where they discussed the proposed budget of $42,933,564, which voters will ultimately decide on whether to approve or opt for the default budget amounting to $42,772,778 in the March election.
The proposed budget, which will be officially voted on by the school board at this Tuesday’s meeting to move forward as Article 2 in the town warrant, has a total budget increase of $2,971,297 (7.44%) before additional revenues, and $331,116 after the revenues. It includes a tax impact of 1.9% or $0.27 cents on the tax rate, according to information provided during Wednesday’s meeting.
The presentation also showed that Article 2 included a first-year teacher’s contract of $514,836, and thus a tax impact of 2.96% or $0.42 cents on the tax rate.
After revenues, which increased by $2,125,297, the total increase is $845,952 (2.12%) before other warrant articles, which is for the teacher contracts.
Article 3 is for a three-year paraprofessional contract, starting at $168,000 for FY 2025-2026, and then $139,718 and $137,791 respectively over the next two years. The tax impact of the first year of the contract would be 0.97% or $0.14 on the tax rate.
Article 4 is for the administration cost of $78,000 for a one-year contract. School Board member Arlene Hawkins said this is the “front lines,” and it has been “a pleasure to work with them and respect the work they’re doing.”
Business Administrator Mary Henry said it is important that the staff is paid for what they do. Pratt added that inheriting the three negotiations in one year, while also creating a budget based on student needs, is a difficult task but he was happy with what has been put forth.
Henry said all in with all the contracts comes to an impact of .89 cents per $1,000 of assessed value on the tax rate, which is an estimate because values can change.
“The bulk of this is the contracts,” Henry said. “We did our best.”
Members of the school board and administration spoke in support of the proposed budget prior to the public hearing, saying that while difficult reductions were made, they felt they were the right choices to ensure the best education for the students.
“I am pleased to share how the proposed budget directly supports our students, and supports our strategic plan, ensuring our educational priorities are effectively addressed and implemented throughout the district,” Superintendent Chris Pratt said, after showing a video where SAU 6 staff spoke about the district’s educational direction. “A well-structured budget is essential in translating our strategic goals into actual initiatives, enabling us to allocate resources where they are needed the most.”
The majority of the budget increase was due to a 15% hike in insurance costs, as well as 10% in dental, amounting to $1,221,704. There is also an increase of out of district placements amounting to $1,480,180. There are two social worker positions removed from the budget, but they will be funded by the grant. SAU costs decreased $91,855 due to a change in Unity assessed value, and debt payments decreased by $32,751.
“Almost all of our huge increases were things we had no control over,” Pratt said. “Negotiations, health insurance, all that stuff. Millions of dollars, and when you look at it, that’s where the bulk of our increases came. Those are things we don’t have control over.”
There were also budget related FTE adjustments that include the following: $334,270 cut from five teachers and benefits; 4.35 para positions and benefits cut, amounting to $185,036; reducing the guidance counselor at Claremont Middle School; adding a teaching program at Sugar River Valley Regional Technical Center amounting to $102,171; and decreasing the budgeted amount for open positions that were at the top of the pay scale.
The school board also had to make the difficult decision to close the pre-K program, but they will still be meeting the special education needs of students that it served. This aspect was met with members of the public speaking out about how this was a disappointment, which was acknowledged and agreed upon by members of the board.
Chair Heather Whitney spoke about how the importance of the school, and its success, was unnoticed. However, one aspect they did not see was that the growth of students did not carry on into elementary school.
“It’s painful to have things taken away,” Whitney said. “The positive experiences that people had, their students and staff, those were real positive experiences. We are not diminishing those experiences.”
Pratt said this was a transparent process between the administration and the board in putting together the budget, adding that his principals and team worked hard to keep cuts away from classrooms so education wouldn’t be impacted.
“It was a total team effort, which isn’t all that typical,” Pratt said. “We have a board, superintendent’s office and principals all working toward one thing, and that is trying to provide students with the best education possible with the funds we have.”
Several members of the public were on-hand to speak about the budget, including K/1 Special Education Teacher Matt Bean from the Maple Avenue Elementary School. Bean is a resident of Ward 1 and made clear that his comments were coming as a citizen, taxpayer and human services professional. Bean understands the budget crunch, mostly due to the state not properly funding schools, but he had qualms about the removal of the pre-school program.
“I do have to admit I am distraught about the intention to eliminate the pre-school program for our school district,” Bean said. “For me, pre-school should be considered a human right and easily accessible to as many children as humanly possible.”
Bean said if the ball is to eventually move to a universal pre-K model, he would like to see the course of action to reform the pre-school program and not remove it. He feels early intervention is essential to ensure student success.
Charlene Lovett of Ward 2 agreed with Bean, saying that eliminating a pre-school program is not in the best interest. The former school board member said it is her experience that early intervention the better, and it helps as students age through the public education system. She agreed about reforming rather than eliminating.
Gary Merchant of Ward 2 also spoke and commended the work of the school board and administration for their transparency and work to fix the ship.
“I have not seen so much transparency by the school board in a long, long time, if any time,” he said.
The Claremont School Board will meet on Tuesday where they will vote to approve the warrant articles to be voted on March 11, which includes the proposed budget and contracts.
The deliberative session for the warrant articles is scheduled for Feb. 1 at 9 a.m. in the Stevens High School Auditorium.
