By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
CLAREMONT, N.H. — The Claremont School Board unanimously approved Articles 1 through 4 to be included in the warrant at their meeting on Tuesday, which included the elections, the proposed budget and three contracts.
Voters will now have the chance to discuss the articles and make amendments at the upcoming deliberative session on Feb. 1, and the vote will take place on March 11.
Article 1 is for the election of officials including two school board members for three-year terms; the moderator for one year; the treasurer for one year; and the district clerk for a year term.
The proposed budget of $42,933,564, included in 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 by the school board.
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.
If Article 2 is voted down, the district will adopt a default budget amounting to $42,772,778.
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 Claremont Administration Association contract of $78,000 for a one-year contract.
The majority of the budget increase was due to a 15% hike in insurance costs and 10% in dental, amounting to $1,221,704. There is also an increase in out of district placements amounting to $1,480,180. Two social worker positions were 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.
The school board also had to make the difficult decision to close the pre-K program, which board members and the public expressed qualms with.
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 deliberative session for the warrant articles is scheduled for Feb. 1 at 9 a.m. in the Stevens High School Auditorium.