Mont Vernon backs SB2

Thursday, March 18, 2010

MONT VERNON – After approving use of the SB2 format for future meetings Tuesday, 116 Mont Vernon residents saw what would be the last traditional-style town meeting for the Mont Vernon School District barring any future changes away from SB2.

The three-hour meeting saw passage of all but one article and the proposals of seven amendments, with only one succeeding. That amendment came in a motion by Selectman John Quinlan to add $61,000 instead of $30,000 in an article to appropriate money for the School Property Maintenance Trust Fund. The issue was largely seen as a procedural motion since the School Board and Budget Committee wished to transfer money into it from the Mont Vernon School Land Capital Reserve Fund but could not legally do so.

The dissolution of the Land Capital Reserve Fund was discussed, with the School Board and Budget Committee agreeing the fund should be dissolved, but they disagreed on how. The School Board said the funds should go into the general fund, while the Budget Committee believed this money was dedicated for a particular purpose and should not be earmarked for any other purpose.

The only proposed amendment on the night that came to a tally was a motion by Nicole Martin to restore a Spanish teacher position in the overall district budget back to full time. The position was cut to part time at last year’s town meeting. The amendment failing 43-52.

The budget also saw three more amendment proposals, all made by SB2 advocate Tom McKinney, attempting to cut the bottom line. The proposed cuts – $60,000 toward the elimination of a teaching position, $10,000 in staff development costs and $2,000 toward Internet networking – were all defeated.

The only other major discussion of the evening came on the article that would provide equal access to health care plans for paraprofessionals in the schools. Previously, paraprofessionals could buy into the same single-person plans as teachers, but were unable to purchase two-person or family plans, which could cost as much as their yearly salaries on their own, according to official estimates.

The dollar amount in the article, $46,528, was determined due to surveys of the current paraprofessionals and their health care needs, but opponents were concerned that those needs could change to more expensive plans, which could create an estimated cost of more than $100,000.

Willard Archibald proposed an amendment on the article to change its ratio of payment between the paraprofessional teachers and the district from the district paying 75 percent of costs and the teacher paying 25 percent of costs to a 50/50 split. Archibald was advised his motion was out of order as the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration worked with the district on the wording of the article and changing the ratio may render the article illegal if passed. He was, however, allowed to change the dollar amount to $31,174 to achieve that end.

The only other suggested amendment of the evening was to Article 4, where School Board Chairman Leo White moved to add the words “within two weeks of this vote” to allay any confusion over when the land fund would be discontinued.

All of the articles presented on the warrant passed except for Article 6, to appropriate $1 to create a Tuition Expendable Trust Fund.

Proponents of the article said placing money in the trust fund later could allay costs in years where enrollment widely fluctuated, allowing the district to send students elsewhere instead of hiring new personnel.

Opponents said that the fund would actually cost more than $1 to create, immediately putting the fund into deficit with the current wording, and that it was not a necessary expenditure this year.