2018 School Deliberative Meeting Notes

File for Civic News:  SchoolDelibSess020618revBfinal

1. An attempt to decrease the operating budget by approximately $76,000, the cost of Rye’s contribution to the Robert J. Lister Academy in Portsmouth to which it has sent only one student in recent years, failed to pass.
2. An attempt to increase the operating budget by $89,000 to provide pay increases to support staff, whose pay has been frozen due to the failure of union negotiations for the second year in a row, failed to pass.
3. The proponent of a petitioned warrant article to move responsibility for approving the default budget from the School Board to the Budget Committee explained his rationale. Adjustments to the default budget for 2017-2018 were a major reason for the $900,000 increase in school taxation over the prior year, he asserted.