By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
NEWPORT, N.H. — Newport School District voters gathered for the deliberative session on Feb. 1, and while there was input from the community, all five articles moved on to the town warrant with only a housekeeping amendment to the collective bargaining agreement articles.
Article 1 is the election of officers, and voters will choose a moderator, clerk and treasurer for a one-year term. They will also choose two school board members for a three-year term, and one member for one year.
Article 2 is the operating budget, where voters will be asked to raise and appropriate $22,148,790. If this is defeated, the default budget, which is the same budget as last year and the same amount as the proposed budget, will be adopted. The proposed budget has a tax impact of -$0.01.
School Board Chair Steve Morris introduced the article, which was recommended by the board and the Budget Advisory Committee.
“This budget supports our goals to recruit and retain the best and brightest employees to the district,” Morris said. “To continue to improve the curriculum of all grades, our third goal of improved student behavior, and our fourth of improved climate and culture.”
Morris said the board’s goal was to maintain costs as they are. This budget includes money to help pay for Articles 3 and 4, which are contracts for teachers and support staff.
Budget Advisory Committee Chair Kenneth Merrow spoke in favor of the proposed budget, and told the public about the hard work the committee and school officials put in to whittling this down. The committee started with a proposed budget that had a .65-cent impact on the tax rate.
He said their work helps support what is in the classroom, while also bringing forward a budget that the town can accept.
“I know it was tough,” he said. “There were some tough conversations, but that’s budgeting.”
He added, “I recommend everyone support this. This is the right move for the town.”
Jeffrey Kessler, who is a selectman, touched on how the district is near the bottom in state rankings for student achievement. He inquired how they will take the same amount of money and try to meet goals.
Superintendent Donna Magoon addressed this, saying that over the past few years there have been programs put in place to help with bringing up student achievement scores. This takes a few years for the programs to become engrained in the teaching, she said. This includes a literacy program and a new science program, as well as behavioral programs and additional staffing to help.
Colleen O’Connor is the co-president of the Newport Teachers Association, and she thanked everyone who worked on the budget. She agreed with Merrow, saying they have worked hard to have a fair budget for everyone. The goal is to support teachers, paraprofessionals and students.
“We hope you will support our loving kids, and our town,” O’Connor said.
Former School Board member Bert Spaulding said he supports this fully, but also asked for the district to recognize the problem. He said the downhill trajectory needs to end, and that it is up to the board and superintendent to alleviate this. He said, “the lip service has got to end.”
“It is necessary for this district to turn a corner,” Spaulding said, and added, “This is the beginning, and hopefully the spark that ignites the change and turns us around.”
Article 3 is to see if the school district will vote to approve the cost items included in the collective bargaining agreement that was reached between the Newport School District and the Newport Teachers Association. It calls for the increases in salaries and benefits at the current staffing level over the previous year as follows: $355,264 for 2024-2025; $208,442 for 2025-2026; $329,177 for 2026-2027; $322,884 for 2027-2028.
The Article also asks voters to raise and appropriate $1 for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. The sum representing the additional costs in the increases in salaries and benefits in the new agreement that would be paid at current staffing levels would be funded out of the 2025-2026 operating budget. This has zero tax impact and is recommended by the school board and Budget Advisory Committee.
The tax impact for this article is zero cents.
An amendment, which passed by card vote, was made to the article that clarifies that only the 2025-2026 year will be funded out of the operating budget, and that the future years have a tax increase.
School Board member Melissa Mitchler said those looking to get a job in a school district look at health insurance costs, sick leave and other items to guide a personal decision. She said the hope here is to negotiate a contract with a competitive salary schedule, but also be enticing in other ways. The three-year contract also includes a signing incentive of $3,500, which was funded with unfilled positions. Steps one through three are also combined, and the starting salary was increased to $44,206, which is around what is currently for step three teachers.
Article 4 pertains to the Newport Support Staff CBA and is to see if the school district will vote to approve the cost items included in the collective bargaining agreement that was reached between the Newport School District and the Newport Support Staff. It calls for the following increases in salaries and benefits at the current level over the previous year: $162,540 for 2024-2025; $79,906 for 2025-2026; and $107,514 for 2026-2027.
Much like the Teacher CBA, there are incentives for teachers to come here. This includes aspects like a $3,000 signing bonus and 100% paid insurance compared to none, among others.
There is zero tax impact and the article is recommended for passage by the school board and Budget Advisory Committee.
An amendment with the same language as Article 3 passed, as well.
Article 5 is by petition and is to see if the school district will adopt a resolution that was proposed by a member of the public. The article is as follows:
“Whereas the New Hampshire Supreme Court, in its Claremont rulings over 30 years ago, affirmed the state’s constitutional responsibility to ensure and fairly fund a high-quality education for every child;
Whereas the Superior Court, in both the Rand and ConVal rulings, has directed Legislature to align school funding statutes with decades of court precedent;
Whereas the state of New Hampshire currently funds less than 30% of the cost of each child’s public education costs lowest in the country and funds less than 11% of special education cost; shifting burden to local property taxpayers;
Whereas 86% of New Hampshire’s school-aged children attend public schools;
Whereas the Town of Newport, its students, and taxpayers have been disproportionately harmed by the state’s inequitable funding model;’
Now therefore, therefore, the citizens of the Town of Newport advise the state of New Hampshire Legislature and Governor to adopt comprehensive and lasting laws that increase state funding for public education to fulfill the state’s responsibility of providing an adequate education fairly funded for every student across the state.”
