Voters debate field lights, lunch funding at Inter-Lakes deliberative session

MEREDITH — Allocating teaching positions and athletic field lighting sparked discussion during the Inter-Lakes School District deliberative session Wednesday, where the proposed budget shows a 5.7% increase.

The hearing was called an “information gathering session” by school board Chair Charley Hanson, of Center Harbor. The board will vote on moving the articles to the ballot on Tuesday, Feb. 10.

Articles 1 and 2 on the warrant are about voting on agents, committees and officers chosen from the election, and salaries of district officers for the coming years.

In Article 3, voters will be asked to approve the collective bargaining agreement between the school district and the Inter-Lakes Education Association for $458,794.

This is a one-year contract due to a current health insurance study, expected to be done by June.

In information provided about the article, due to fluctuations in the health care industry, information wasn’t available for the district to engage in “meaningful long-term negotiations.”

The teachers union represents 112 people, or 109.50 full-time positions. If approved, the total budget increase would come to 7%.

If the article is voted down, Article 4 would authorize the school board to hold one special meeting to address Article 3 cost items.

Article 5 asks voters if they approve the operating budget of $37.3 million, which is $2 million more than last year. Most of the 5.7% increase is due to drastic increases in special education, and health and dental costs.

The budget includes $915,694 for special education and special education transport, which is an increase of 45.4%. Health and dental increases total $557,654, or 27.7% higher than last year.

Other notable increases include $159,982 more, or 7.9%, in curriculum and development, and $129,141 more for facilities, a 6.4% increase. Superintendent Mary Moriarty noted both areas were underfunded last year, leading to the increase.

“We are trying to bring those closer to a level that we need for next year, and we’ll also be receiving fund balance in those areas,” Moriarty said.

There was a 4.5% increase, or $91,328, in transportation costs; and a 4.5% increase, or $91,293 in the office of the principal.

About $42,000 of the increase for the principal's office is for the school resource officer, as well as police details, which increased from $60 to $70 per hour.

There are staffing adjustments proposed for next year, including reducing two health office paraeducators. To offset this, the district is looking to increase the role of the school nurse at Sandwich Central School to also carry districtwide responsibilities.

Also being reduced is one regular education paraeducator and an elementary library paraeducator, in order to shift one unfilled teacher position from Inter-Lakes Middle High School to Inter-Lakes Elementary.

“That allows us to smooth out some class sizes at ILES,” Moriarty said.

Other reductions include a special education paraeducator and classroom paraeducator in Sandwich. These were not filled last year, so that money will be used to fund an additional special education teacher for Sandwich.

The district plans to add two custodians, and make the ILMHS receptionist a year-round employee, rather than just for the school year.

Meredith resident Tabitha Gerry asked if they considered keeping a full-time paraeducator at the elementary school, in addition to the full-time library position. Moriarty said they felt this was a reasonable offset to bring a teacher to ILES.

Gerry said knowing the increase for paraeducators, she would be in favor of keeping the position instead. Moriarty said nobody is losing their job, and it would just be a job shift.

Heather Anderson, a paraeducator in the Life Skills department at ILMHS, was not present and sent in a comment. She addressed reducing the nursing assistant and office paraeducator for the school, saying she has seen difficulties of having only one nurse in the office. She said with the number of students, eliminating the position is not in the best interest of the district.

Article 6 pertains to proposed permanent lighting at Charles G. Burrows Athletic Field, asking the district to raise $359,000, with $175,000 to come from donated funds already received.

The lighting proposal was spearheaded by the Grandparents Club, who have been fundraising to make it a reality. Moriarty said benefits of adding lights include increased field time, academic time, and community time. There are also enhanced opportunities for youth sports and non-athletic events, and will encourage team and spirit engagement.

The request in the article will likely be updated at the Tuesday meeting, when the board votes on whether to send the article to the warrant, as fundraising efforts are ongoing.

Resident Karen Sticht asked what the hidden costs are, noting that lately, electric bills have skyrocketed.

The question was answered in the meeting, but the hard numbers are actually much lower than presented. Moriarty said Thursday there would be four athletic field light poles, with eight LED heads. The power to the poles is 172 amps at 240 volts, and 172 amps at 240 volts for a single phase, coming to 41.28 kilowatts. Using these electrical factors, with a four-hour event, lights would cost $27.07 a night for 164.12 kilowatts. Thirty events lasting four hours amount to $3,368.40 per year, which she said is close to the cost to rent.

Article 7 asks the district to vote on becoming an open enrollment school district, and admit one student from outside, expecting no students to enroll elsewhere.

The residential school district of a student coming would be charged 80% of tuition costs, Moriarty said. She referenced a case between Prospect Mountain and Pittsfield, where 11 students went to Prospect Mountain, and Pittsfield received a bill.

The warrant article objectives include financial protection to mitigate impact on the district; creating legal authority by formally adopting the statute with specific limitations; and creating proposed enrollment caps.

The district is being asked, in Article 8, to use $727,250 to provide free breakfast and lunch for students, and direct the school board to include funding for this in subsequent budgets. Several residents spoke in favor of the petitioned article, and one wrote an email of support.

Sarah Love preferred supporting this article over field lights, saying the light proposal asks the district to prioritize something non-essential. She said free meals would remove the stigma, and quietly support families struggling in ways not visible.

Article 9, another petitioned article, asks the district to call on legislators to protect taxpayers by requiring the Education Freedom Account program to provide fiscal and education performance reports.

This is in response to legislators recently removing income limits from the program, which added millions of dollars in costs. The article, if approved, would direct public funds to private education without reducing expenses public schools are required to cover by law.

The school board will vote on whether they support the articles to be sent to the district ballot during their meeting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 10, in the Humiston Building Conference Room, 103 Main St.

The ballot then goes to voters at the Wednesday, March 4 district meeting.