EXPLANATION OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT WARRANT Claremont School District Claremont, New Hampshire

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1 School district budget documents can be difficult to understand. Below is an explanation of this year s warrant for the. To the inhabitants of the School District of the City of Claremont, in the County of Sullivan, in said State, qualified to vote in District affairs: You are hereby notified that the two sessions of the Annual School District Meeting will be held as follows: First Session: Wednesday, February 6, 2019, at 6:30 PM, in the Auditorium at Stevens High School, 175 Broad Street, Claremont, NH. Snow Date: Snow date for the first session is Thursday, February 7, 2019, at 6:30 PM in the Auditorium at Stevens High School, 175 Broad Street, Claremont, NH, as determined by the moderator scheduled within 72 hours of the original date. Second Session: Tuesday, March 12, 2019 from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM, at the polling places for each ward at the following locations: Ward I Claremont Middle School, South Street, Claremont, NH Ward II Claremont Middle School, South Street, Claremont, NH Ward III Disnard Elementary School, Hanover Street, Claremont, NH The first session shall consist of explanation, discussion, and debate of each of the following warrant articles. Warrant articles whose wording is not prescribed by law may be amended but not finally voted upon at the first session. At the first session, the reports of the officers and agents of the School District will be received and any other action, which may legally come before the first session, may be taken. session. The final vote on all Warrant Articles shall be conducted by official ballot at the second Page 1 of 6

2 NH school districts are either considered SB1 or SB2 for approving a school district budgets (also known as a WARRANT). Claremont voted to become an SB2 district in SB1 districts, like Unity, have ONE annual meeting. The registered voters in the town come together on a single date and discuss the school district budget, vote to make any adjustments, and then vote on the separate articles (different sections of the budget or warrant) in person at that meeting. SB2 districts, like Claremont, have an annual meeting that is split between two dates. The first date is called the Deliberative Session or First Session. At that meeting, the registered voters in the city come together to discuss the school district budget and can vote to make any adjustments. Then the adjusted budget is placed on a ballot and the registered voters in the city vote at the polls on the second Tuesday in March. The voting day is considered the Second Session of the annual meeting. If the main budget fails on the voting day, the school district operates under the Default Budget. Article 1: Election of School District Officials To elect a Moderator, District Clerk, and District Treasurer, each for a one (1) year term, and 3 School Board members, 2 for three (3) year terms and 1 for a two (2) year term. The school district moderator is the person who runs the First Session or Deliberative Session of the annual meeting. They are the person in charge of facilitating that meeting. The District Clerk takes minutes at all of the school board meetings throughout the year, is responsible for swearing in new members of the board, and a few other tasks. The District Treasurer monitors the accounting practices of the district and signs off on expenditures. School board members typically serve a three-year term. In this article, one of the terms is only for two years because a member resigned part-way through the first year of their term. The two-year term is to finish out the remaining years of the original three-year term. When the two-year term is finished, it will return to a three-year term for that seat. Article 2: Main Budget Shall the raise and appropriate as an operating budget, not including appropriations by special warrant articles and other appropriations voted separately, the amounts set forth on the budget posted with the warrant or as amended by vote of the first session, Page 2 of 6

3 for the purposes set forth therein, totaling THIRTY-FIVE MILLION TWO HUNDRED NINETY-THREE THOUSAND SIXTY-THREE DOLLARS ($35,293,063)? Should this article be defeated, the default budget shall be THIRTY-FIVE MILLION ONE HUNDRED THIRTEEN THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED FIFTY DOLLARS ($35,113,750) which is the same as last year, with certain adjustments required by previous action of the or by law, or the governing body may hold one special meeting, in accordance with RSA 40:13, X and XVI, to take up the issue of a revised operating budget only. Note: The above operating budget includes the sum necessary to fund the cost items in the fiscal year for a three-year collective bargaining agreement reached between the Claremont School Board and the Claremont Administrators Association. This agreement calls for the following estimated net increase in salaries and benefits for the to fiscal years: Year Est. Increase $ 17, $ 31, $ 32,285 A favorable vote on this article shall be considered not only the approval of the proposed operating budget for the fiscal year, but also the approval of the cost item, such sum representing the additional costs attributable to the increase in salaries and benefits required by the new agreement over those that would be paid at current staffing levels in accordance with the most recent collective bargaining agreement. The school board has proposed a budget that is $35,293,063. This amount includes money from grants and other state and federal sources that don t impact the Claremont tax rate. Any money that the school district spends must be appropriated. This means the voters have to agree to allow the district to spend that amount of money, even if it is grant money. This amount is larger Page 3 of 6

4 than the amount that actually impacts the Claremont tax rate. To approve the proposed budget, the majority of voters would vote yes on the ballot for Article 2. The proposed budget includes an agreement between the School Board and the district administrators (principals, assistant principals, etc.). If voters approve the proposed budget, the agreement would provide a salary increase to the administrators for three years. The school district budget includes $17,789 for the school year. The budget would then need to include $31,197 and the budget would then need to include $32,285. If voters approve the budget this year, it means they are also approving the increases to the budget for this agreement for the following two years. The Default Budget is $35,113,750. If the voters don t approve the proposed budget (the majority of voters select no on the ballot for Article 2), the Default Budget will be the amount spent in There is a state law that says what is allowed to be included in the Default Budget and what isn t allowed to be included. The school district and school board do not get to determine the amount of the Default Budget. Article 3: Roofing Repairs at Bluff Elementary School Shall the vote to raise and appropriate the sum of ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ($100,000) for the purpose of roofing repairs at Bluff Elementary School? The roof at Bluff School was installed in The entire roof needs replacement with the exception of a small area over the boiler room that was done in There are sections over the gym area where there are very few whole shingles actually left intact. The district expects that they can replace the roof at Bluff for no more than $100,000. If it costs less than $100,000 to replace the roof, the remaining money is returned to the taxpayers. It does not go in the general fund. Article 4: Upgrade to Fire Alarm Panel at Disnard Elementary School Shall the vote to raise and appropriate the sum of EIGHTY THOUSAND DOLLARS ($80,000) for the purpose of required upgrades to the current fire alarm panel at Disnard Elementary School? Page 4 of 6

5 The fire panel at Disnard is over 20 years old with parts no longer readily available. New replacement parts are no longer made for the model/brand of panel that is at Disnard and we rely on finding leftover parts in supplier s old inventory. The wiring throughout the building is also cause for concern and needs to be replaced. New fire codes require that any building with an occupancy of 100 persons or more be a full voice evacuation when the alarm sounds you hear a voice telling you to get out of the building in addition to the loud beeping sound. In order for Disnard to comply with new fire codes, a speaker for voice evacuation needs to be installed in every room. Should the fire panel fail, we would be required to pay the Claremont Fire Department to be at the school to conduct a fire watch until a new panel can be purchased and installed. If it costs less than $80,000 to replace the fire panel and update the wiring, the remaining money is returned to the taxpayers. It does not go in the general fund. Article 5: Purchase of Districtwide Two-Way Emergency Radio Communications System Shall the vote to raise and appropriate the sum of TWO HUNDRED FORTY-NINE THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED FIFTY DOLLARS ($249,950) for the purpose of purchasing and installing a district wide emergency two-way radio communications system to allow for better communications between locations, personnel and emergency service providers? During emergencies it is critical that the schools have methods of communication that are simple to use and reliable. A push-to-talk communication system (that uses two-way radios) would work when other means of communication have failed. This would allow staff and administration to quickly communicate with each other and first responders (like the Claremont Police Department). This will also allow communication between all seven buildings (Stevens High School, Sugar River Valley Regional Technical School, Claremont Middle School, Maple Avenue Page 5 of 6

6 Elementary School, Bluff Elementary School, Disnard Elementary School, and the Superintendent s Office/Dow Building). The proposed system would include ninety handheld radios, seven digital/analog repeaters (to ensure signals can get to each building and throughout the entire building), seven antennas, seven battery backups (the system will work during power failure), licensing and a platform for enabling the integration of existing and future communication devices (we could add more devices in the future or newer technology). This system allows seamless communication with two-way radios, smartphones, laptops, landlines, tablets, and rugged handhelds with ease of use and makes it so that staff can focus on keeping our students safe. By blending analog and digital, this system would provide a unified environment for secure communications during emergencies and daily business. Article 6: Purchase and Installation of Surveillance Cameras on School District Buses Shall the vote to raise and appropriate the sum of FIFTY-ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS ($51,000) for the purpose of purchasing and installing surveillance cameras on all Buses? School bus cameras can capture bullying between students, as well as accusations against the driver or other bus aide. With video footage, it becomes easier to resolve conflicting stories about interactions on the bus. The proposed bus camera systems would record events during routes to assist with efforts to increase student safety. The proposed system would include at least four internal cameras, a digital video recorder, wiring and accessories, and viewing software for each of our twelve full size busses. GIVEN UNDER OUR HANDS AND SEAL AT SAID Claremont this 16th, day of January Signed by Claremont School Board Members: Frank Sprague, Rebecca Zullo, Michele Pierce, Jason Benware, Carolyn Towle, Michael Petrin and Robert Lovett, Jr. Page 6 of 6