Auburn News : Merrimack Valley

Auburn considers its own school

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:48:00 GMT

BY TOBY HENRY

The defeat of a two-town middle school to serve Auburn and Candia has left Auburn to evaluate a possible new school proposal on its own while Candia officials say they’re done making plans for now.

In Candia, the past five years have seen three school proposals shot down, including the recent failure of a tuition contract which could have sent that town’s sixth- through eighthgrade students to a proposed Auburn middle school for 20 years. Although the proposed school had been a topic of discussion in both towns for three years, it garnered only 278 “yes” votes to 766 against in Candia, making an Auburn vote moot.

Following the vote, Candia School Board Chairman Karen Smith said her town will likely not revive a major school improvement proposal for the near future. Officials in both towns said Candia’s lack of representation at the proposed school and the uncertainty that their middle-school teachers would be hired to teach there were likely the biggest voter turn-offs.

“I guess it just goes to show you that people have a hard time spending money in a town where they’re not going to have a say,” said Auburn Budget Committee Chairman Lew Theos. “I think people also didn’t like the fact that there was no guarantee (Candia’s) teachers would get hired.”

Candia School Board member Ingrid Byrd, who had been staunchly opposed to the project, said its overwhelming defeat surprised even her. She too agreed that Candia’s lack of representation at the new school was probably its proverbial nail in the coffin.

Byrd said the nationwide news of poor economic forecasts which coincided with the final vote may have convinced more people that the proposal was badly timed.

“Gas is over $3 a gallon, and people are just looking at the realities of life right now,” she said.

Although the $25 million proposal was never presented to Auburn’s voters, the project still maintains a life of sorts after voters approved School Board member Kathi Porter’s request for $62,000 to continue work on a new school design. Porter said the plan for a two-town school is definitely out of the question for now, but the additional money leaves the door open for looking at alternative designs for a building that might eventually replace Auburn Village School.

While the scope of the new project has not been determined yet, Porter said that one concept that is definitely out of the question is building an Auburn-only middle school, a venture that she said would be too costly for the town. Porter said that another two-town partnership is also unlikely.

“A lot of people I’ve talked to said we need K-through-eight, Auburn only,” she said. “And there’s also the question of what we’ll do with AVS -- Do we sell it? Do we give it to the town? Will we lose revenue if we give it to the town? These are all things we’ll have to consider.” Porter said she expects discussions on new school options to begin this summer.

Auburn says ‘yes’ to public kindergarten

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:33:00 GMT

BY TOBY HENRY

Residents approved the town’s first public kindergarten and town budget of $4,218,251 during the final annual Town and School District meetings March 14 and 15.

The voters’ decision to approve the SB2 official ballot voting system on March 11 means the traditional meetings held on Friday and Saturday were the last Auburn will have. Discussions on a failed two-town middle school was the focus as the school meeting began Friday night.

School Board member Kathi Porter said she’d wished she would have been kicking off the talks for Auburn’s vote on the project, but the new school effort ultimately evolved into a $62,000 budget increase.

Candia’s rejection of a 20- year contract had killed the project three days earlier before Auburn’s voters could take up their own vote on the two-town school. Porter said the additional $62,000 would be used to “research solutions for space and programming needs” for local students, and an overall budget of $10,133,854 was approved.

Residents also approved a kindergarten with a total construction cost of $382,833, with some $287,125 in state aid expected. State sources will also provide $95,040 toward the $111,060 needed to staff and supply the kindergarten next year.

Although some residents said they were concerned about financial difficulties for the many private kindergartens which have been teaching Auburn’s children, many residents said they felt establishing a kindergarten program was unavoidable.

“The fact of the matter is if the state tells us we have to do this, it’s like my 10-year-old arguing with me about going to bed,” said Chris Trickett. “Sooner or later she has to go to bed. They (the state) is telling us we have to do it.”

According to school officials’ plans, more than 50 students will attend the kindergarten when it opens next year, and a technical education classroom will be converted into two 1,000-square-foot classrooms. The kindergarten passed by a vote of 298-94, easily meeting the required simple majority vote.

Later, during the Town Meeting on Saturday, residents OK’d an additional $150,000 for extra winter road maintenance as well as $3,400 to cover increased costs for groundskeeping equipment. The final budget totaled $4,218,251 without warrant articles.

Voters also shot down an article to have the governor reject the longstanding pledge against having a state tax, and more than $300,000 in various town road projects were approved. Voters also supported a $75,000 request for wastewater planning.

Auburn leaves traditional Town Meeting behind

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 19:49:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Aside from electing their town officials, Auburn voters also decided whether to go to an official ballot style of voting on town matters and school matters.

In an overwhelming vote, it was decided the town and school district would now be governed by the official ballot law, often called SB2 for the Senate bill that became the law, leaving the traditional Town Meeting behind.

A total of 538 voted to change to SB2 on the town side, with 308 voting not to change. On the school side, it was 537-310 in favor of SB2.

Prior to the election, Auburn Selectman Jim Headd said he would have liked to see the issue debated at Auburn’s Town Meeting on Saturday, March 15, rather than making it a ballot item.

“It would be funny if we could bring it up and talk about it on the floor,” Headd said, adding only 14 people showed up at a public hearing on the question on Feb. 25.

The Auburn School Board recently showed its position against going to the SB2 form of election used in 50 municipalities and 70 school districts in New Hampshire, the board having taken a stance at a meeting in February against adopting the official ballot law.

While the Board of Selectmen did not take an official stance on whether or not to go to SB2, a public hearing on Feb. 25 featured much discussion among the board members and Auburn residents on whether voting by official ballot was a good idea for the town.

According to 2006 population figures, Auburn has more than 5,160 residents. Currently, the town has about 3,500 registered voters on the checklist.

Several town and school officials have argued that the town is still small enough to maintain the Town Meeting practice, which typically draws a few hundred people in Auburn.

Some are worried the switch to official ballot for all town and school issues would permit many residents to skip the meeting altogether and could possibly bring uninformed voters out to the polls.

Candia, sitting next to Auburn with a population about 1,000 residents fewer than Auburn’s, adopted the official ballot law in recent years and saw the voter participation at the town and school district deliberative sessions plummet by the hundreds from the number which attended the traditional Town and School District Meetings.

While it may be easier under SB2 for more voters to make it to the polls than can attend a lengthy meeting to vote, they may not have as good a handle on the issues, some officials say.

In another upset, long-time Selectman Harland Eaton was supplanted by Paul Raiche in the town’s only contested race for a single open seat on the Board of Selectmen.

The only other ballot issue was to extend the town clerk term from one year to three years, which passed 624-230.

Auburn votes on change to official ballot law

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:20:00 GMT

BY TOBY HENRY

The March 11 vote on establishing Senate Bill 2 official balloting is getting a mixed review as residents weigh increased voter participation vs. the traditional meeting and discussion format.

“Less than 200 people last year voted for an almost $9 million school budget, and I think that percentage is just too low,” said former selectman Charles Kellett, who signed citizen petitions for SB2 for both the town and school. “At the Town Meeting, you deliberate and then vote, and all SB2 really does is separate the two.”

About 50 towns and cities and 70 school districts in the state use the official ballot law, often called SB2, which replaces the traditional annual Town Meeting and School District Meeting with an early deliberative session, usually in February, with the vote occurring in mid-March. Kellet and other residents say this is the first time they recall seeing SB2 on Auburn’s ballots, and while officials have not taken sides on the issue, Selectmen Chairman Harlan Eaton recently said he sees “nothing broken” with the Town Meeting format that has been practiced so far.

Everett Harriman, a local retiree, said he opposes SB2 because he has become aware of a drop in attendance at the deliberative sessions when towns such as neighboring Candia have adopted SB2. In 2005, about 600 voters attended the annual Candia Town Meeting, but attendance was about 80 at the deliberative session in 2007.

Harriman said Auburn, with its population of about 5,000, is still “a small enough town to get its “arms around issues” at the annual Town Meeting.

“I’ve found that in the eight years I’ve lived here ... that the give and take at the school and town meetings is very informative, and that it brings out a true picture of the articles up for discussion,” Harriman said. “Neither system is perfect, but I still opt for ... the Town Meeting format.”

School Board member Kathleen Porter agreed, adding she believes SB2 is more effective for bigger towns than it would be for Auburn.

“I think it works well in larger communities where you just don’t have the space for that large of a meeting,” she said. “Auburn is still small enough so that the voters can come together.”

But Kellett observed that as time goes on, Auburn is becoming more and more of a bedroom community, where many residents’ work schedules don’t allow enough time to attend a big meeting or analyze many issues at once. In a best-case scenario, Kellett said, he hopes busy residents could become apprised of the town’s issues by reading the summary of the deliberative sessions and then make an informed vote in March.

Kellett said he views the upcoming SB2 vote largely as an attempt to elicit more voters, and said that he’ll have no problem voting against it should it ultimately prove ineffective.

Gagnon, among all Manchester grapplers, reaches New Englands

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:24:00 GMT

BY RYAN O’CONNOR

Among city schools competing at the Meet of Champions, it was Manchester Memorial finishing highest with 20 points to Central’s 13 and West’s 10.

That’s due, in large part, to Jacob Gagnon’s second-place finish in the 215-pound weight class at the meet on Saturday, Feb. 23, at Londonderry High School.

As one of eight grapplers to reach the MOC from Queen City schools, the Memorial standout repeated his Division I performance, making it to the finale and losing to Concord’s Marshall Gleason. He was pinned the first meeting, but lost a 9-7 decision this time around.

The effort earned the Gagnon a trip to the New England Championship on Friday, Feb. 29, and Saturday, March 1, in Lowell, Mass., where he won the Lowell Holiday Tournament in December.

Central’s Juan Taveras came in fifth place by pinning Bow’s Jim Paveglio.

West 135-pounder Jared Crain of Bedford, who took second at the D-I meet, and 145- pounder Casey Bradford each finished sixth.

Other locals reaching the MOC but not placing include Memorial 130-pounder Brandon Marquez and 189-pounder Chris Violette, West’s John Miller at 189 pounds, and Central 152-pounder Miles Davis.

Bedford High School 112- pounder Caleb Earnshaw, a sophomore who earned fourth place in Division II a week earlier, also reached the Meet of Champions, but didn’t place.

Auburn considers switch to SB2

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:36:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Auburn’s Board of Selectmen and School Board are holding public hearings for two citizens’ petitioned warrant articles asking whether the town’s voters would embrace converting to the official ballot law form of town and school elections, often called SB2.

In such towns, voters can only amend warrant articles at the town and school district deliberative sessions; they don’t actually vote on the articles. The vote comes through the ballot boxes on a separate date.

The School Board’s public hearing on the warrant article will take place Thursday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m., in the Auburn Village School cafeteria.

The public hearing for the town will take place Monday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m., during the regular selectmen’s meeting at Auburn Town Hall.

School Board Chairman Elaine Hobbs said the school board voted unanimously not to recommend because the traditional School District Meeting and Town Meeting format has worked well for Auburn in the past.

“We are afraid that, with SB2, voters will make uninformed decisions,” said Hobbs, adding that many more Auburn residents will likely show up to the polls than will attend the deliberative sessions to modify school and town warrant articles and budgets.

Selectmen Chairman Harland Eaton said the board has not yet taken a formal stance on the question of SB2, but will do so in the near future.

While he would not comment on whether he favors going to SB2, he noted pros and cons of a growing town like Auburn making the change, such as more people showing up in voting lines rather than getting acquainted with the issues at Town Meeting.

“I guess what I see here is a change in the era,” he said, noting the more passionate arguments for or against warrants that often come out at Town Meetings.

The latest population study for Auburn shows the town’s 2006 population to be just over 5,000.

Auburn’s neighbor, Candia, has a smaller population of about 4,000 and switched to the SB2 form of voting for the town two years ago. This year is Candia’s first year voting on school articles as an SB2 town.

‘Yes’ after all to kindergarten

Hooksett Editor — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:47:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Two Auburn Budget Committee members have changed their minds and are now recommending a warrant article that would fund state-mandated public kindergarten. They changed their votes upon getting new information from the state the day after their decision.

The Joint Legislative Committee on Costing an Adequate Education released its final report on Friday, Feb. 1, on the costs associated with an adequate education, which the Legislature redefined in June 2007 to include requiring half-day kindergarten for 11 districts in the state without it.

While those towns are already slated to receive 75 percent of the building and renovation costs for starting up kindergarten, the report also offers an incentive for first-year operating costs for those districts that start kindergarten in September 2008.

Making that deadline would give Auburn taxpayers an extra $95,040 in kindergarten aid on top of the 75 percent state aid already promised, according to the report, information that caused Budget Committee members David Dion and Jim Headd, the selectmen’s representative to the committee, to change their votes to “yes.”

The Joint Legislative Committee came up with a figure of $3,456 to educate one student for a year under the state’s new definition of educational adequacy.

Auburn kindergartners will each get half of that amount, or about $1,700, as half-day students. The $95,040 incentive represents the total Auburn will get for the projected 55 kindergartners.

At a meeting on Jan. 31, the Budget Committee voted 5-2 not to recommend the article, which called for $382,833 for renovation costs and $111,660 for first-year operating costs. The Joint Legislative Committee’s report came out the next day.

At the Budget Committee’s next meeting on Thursday, Feb. 7, the vote to recommend passed 4-3. The 75 percent reimbursement for the building costs plus the $95,040 the state would commit to Auburn brings the taxpayers’ burden down to about $112,328 total, provided kindergarten is in place by September 2008.

Both Headd, a state representative, and Dion said they are still against public kindergarten, calling it an unfunded mandate, but both also said they realized it was still a mandate and didn’t want to miss out on the funding. Headd said he is still against kindergarten because it may put Auburn’s three private kindergartens out of business and creates long-term burden on taxpayers, adding he plans to speak on the House floor this spring to get all costs for kindergarten funded.

“I am dead set against the state mandating that we have any kindergarten at all,” Headd said. “I am going to ask the Legislature, when the time is proper, that they fund 100 percent of the obligation they have forced upon us.”

While some of the 11 affected districts will not be able to open up kindergarten in the coming school year, Dion pointed out the others will be going for the funding at the same time as Auburn.

Headd said his vote only secures some first-year funding, and it’s now up to the voters to decide whether kindergarten is successfully established.

“The big issue is the people still have the right to turn it down,” he said. “I don’t like anyone forcing anything down my people’s throats. If the people of Auburn say we want it, the people’s wishes should be granted.”

AVS caps perfect season with championship; Moore falls in semis

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 20:39:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

The New England Patriots couldn’t complete their undefeated season, but the Auburn Village School girls basketball team did during Super Bowl weekend, cruising to a 48- 18 victory in the Tri-County Class S championship game vs. Wilton-Lyndeborough.

Auburn won the title game on Saturday, Feb. 2, after taking victory in the semifinals just as easily, thumping St. Joe’s, 48-16, on Jan. 30.

Eighth-grader Heather Pelletier paced AVS in the semifinal game with 11 points, while teammate Sarah Allard was also in double figures with 10.

“We’re a pretty good team, and we established that lead early and were able to substitute and get some other kids in there,” said head coach Jamie Cote, whose team didn’t allow any points in the second quarter of the semifinal game, and only allowed St. Joe’s to score four first-half points.

But Cote’s first coaching move in the championship came before the game when his team arrived to the court.

“We got there about an hour before the game, and they were still pretty nervous. We went into the locker room, and they had that glazedover look on their faces, so I thought they needed some time alone, and the coaches went out and mingled for a little while,” he said. “When I came back they were bouncing off the walls and ready to play.”

The energy level was high during the game as well, and Cote said it was important to jump out to an early lead.

Auburn won the title game on Saturday, Feb. 2, after taking victory in the semifinals just as easily, thumping St. Joe’s, 48-16, on Jan. 30.

Eighth-grader Heather Pelletier paced AVS in the semifinal game with 11 points, while teammate Sarah Allard was also in double figures with 10.

But Cote’s first coaching move in the championship came before the game when his team arrived to the court.

“We got there about an hour before the game, and they were still pretty nervous.

We went into the locker room, and they had that glazedover look on their faces, so I thought they needed some time alone, and the coaches went out and mingled for a little while,” he said.

“When I came back they were bouncing off the walls and ready to play.”

The energy level was high during the game as well, and Cote said it was important to jump out to an early lead.

Kindergarten, new school rejected by Budget Committee

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 19:58:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Public kindergarten and a joint middle school may have a hard time becoming a reality now that the Auburn Budget Committee has come out against them.

At the Auburn School Board’s hearing before the Auburn Budget Committee on Thursday, Jan. 31, the committee voted not to recommend those two articles.

The Budget Committee split 4-3 against the $25 million joint middle school bond with Candia, and 5-2 against the costs for state-mandated public kindergarten.

The prospect of building a 102,000-square-foot middle school for Auburn and Candia students, and the $25 million bond that comes along with it, has been highly contentious in both towns for the past year.

In Auburn, discussions have taken an important turn with the state Legislature’s decision in September to require public kindergarten for all the cities and towns in the state.

Auburn is one of 11 school districts in New Hampshire without public kindergarten. Currently, students attend one of three private kindergartens or are homeschooled.

While at least one of those districts appears to be dragging its feet, said School Board Vice Chairman Kathleen Porter, Auburn picked up the pace to draft a warrant article for the coming elections on Friday, March 14.

At a recent roundtable discussion scheduled to get citizen input on the joint middle school, the discussion quickly turned to kindergarten, Porter said. “We had a great discussion about kindergarten and how enthusiastic people were,” Porter said.

The finalized kindergarten article asks for $382,833 for costs to renovate and furnish a 2,000-square-foot space in the Village School that formerly housed technology education classrooms. Those classes were moved to another area of the building, Porter said. The article also asks for $111,660 in operating costs for the first year of the program.

The kindergarten project would be reimbursed for 75 percent of the building costs, bringing the actual cost falling to taxpayers to $398,785, including first-year operating costs. “It comes down to maybe $47 per household,” Porter said.

At their warrant article hearing, said Budget Committee Chairman Lewis Theos, members voted according to what they felt the community wanted.

Public kindergarten and a middle school have been voted down in townwide majority votes several times, he said, even when the student population at the Village School peaked about a decade ago to more than 600 students.

There appears to be no set penalty by the state if public kindergarten is not started, despite the mandate to have it in place by September 2008.

Theos said he advised the Budget Committee, after the vote, to reconsider the kindergarten article because of the state’s legislation, and worried the town would lose the 75 percent reimbursement for building costs if the warrant article doesn’t pass. The committee chose not to revisit their decision, he said.

“At least it still goes to the town and the town can make that decision,” said Theos, who as the chairman is not regularly a voting member of the Budget Committee but does vote when there is a tie on a particular issue. While he participated in discussion on the warrant articles, he did not vote.

Discussion on the joint middle school in Auburn will come to a head at the official public hearing on the bond at Auburn Village School on Tuesday, Feb. 12, at 6:30 p.m.

Auburn pushes kindergarten

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 20:58:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

With a state-mandated kindergarten deadline looming, the Auburn School Board has drafted a preliminary warrant article for building and operating costs associated with opening public kindergarten facilities in time for the state Legislature’s September 2008 deadline.

Kathleen Porter, vice chairman of the School Board and representative to the Auburn Budget Committee, said a few of the other 10 districts without public kindergarten in the state are waiting on implementing their kindergarten programs, but that it is important to the Auburn School District the deadline is met.

“We don’t think we’ve been offered the option of waiting,” Porter said.

The draft school district warrant article asks for $375,975 to cover capital costs for opening two kindergarten classrooms in the Village School and $111,660 in operating costs for the first year of the program.

School district Business Administrator Karen Lessard pointed out the draft article contained only preliminary numbers that would likely be tweaked a bit before the Budget Committee sees it on Jan. 31.

Capital costs include renovations as well as furnishings and classroom equipment. The state will reimburse $281,981 in kindergarten aid, which would bring the town’s share of to $93,994.

Depending on the state Legislature’s decision upon reconvening in the spring, aid may also be attributed to the $111,660 in start-up costs, which include the salaries for one full-time and one part-time teacher for a total of three classes.

Porter said public kindergarten will make things easier on first-grade Village School teachers who now deal with children from many different private kindergartens or who were homeschooled.

Currently, Auburn has three private kindergartens: Tiny Tots Preschool and Kindergarten, the Village Children Center and the and the Montessori School.

The technology education class was relocated to make room for the kindergarten classes, which required 2,000 square feet.

The Auburn School Board will host a public hearing on this and other articles on Tuesday, Jan. 29, at 7 p.m., at Auburn Village School.

Auburn Year in review 2007

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 19:49:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Middle school plans
After years of planning, Auburn and Candia school boards are ready to put the funding of a joint middle school in voters’ hands.

In March, Candia voters will weigh in on a tuition agreement with Auburn to fund the new school, a $25 million project.

Auburn will vote on whether to secure a $29 million bond for the total project cost plus interest. Forty percent of that would likely be funded through state aid available to the district, bringing the total project cost for the two towns to $14.8 million.

According to the tuition agreement, Candia would fund 38 percent of the project costs and Auburn 62 percent, based on enrollment figures which could change by the school’s proposed opening in 2010.

The 58 acres of land for the school site off of Old Hooksett Road was purchased by the Auburn School District for a relatively reasonable price in 2006.

Voters in both towns passed warrant articles at the 2007 election to pay for design and planning costs based on the 38-62 enrollment percentage.

The first visual plans were unveiled at a public information session in August. The layout of the 102,000-square-foot building features a high school-sized gym, cafeteria/auditorium, community space, and an expanded library and media center.

The tuition agreement, which stipulates that Candia teachers will have “first consideration” in the hiring process for the new school but makes no employment guarantees, is a point of contention with Candia voters and teachers.

Fire
A fire at 8 Priscilla Lane in Auburn caused about $2 million in damage on June 9, which Fire Department Lt. Linda Wilking called the largest financial loss the town had yet seen from a fire.

Power Up Equipment saw the brunt of the damage. The cause of the fire, which began burning at around 1:45 a.m. and was reported to the fire department about 45 minutes later, is unknown.

Family of eight flooded out The Mother’s Day flood of 2006 and the 2007 flooding wreaked havoc in homes all over the state, but one family in Auburn was really put out in the cold.

Tia and Sean Tobin, who live at 66 Meadow Lane, lived in one room with their six children for weeks, trying to cleanup the water and sludge left in their home.

The mold that grew rapidly after the waters receded made the Tobin family ill, particularly their five-month old twins. One of the twins, Noah, was in the hospital several times.

As they did with many other families plagued by the physical, emotional, and financial strains the rushing waters brought in, There’s No Place Like Home came to the Tobins’ aid.

Paula Young, the ministry’s pastor, organized a group of workers to clean up and restore the home.

All of the Tobins’ clothing, photos and appliances in the house were removed due to the mold. Young even helped the family get into a hotel while crews worked on their home.

Sex sting
An Auburn man was arrested July 19 after he solicited sex from an undercover Kingston police officer during a sting operation.

Steven Lafave, 44, was drawn to a “brothel” the police set up at a home in Kingston with an ad on craigslist.org.

Police had cover for a while and got responses via the site, but posts started showing up exposing the sting, and six men actually went to the house.

Police charged Lafave, along with the other five arrested, with solicitation of prostitution, a misdemeanor carrying a $1,000 fine.

Of the other five, one was a Boys Club executive director from Haverhill, Mass., and another the husband of state Rep. Jessie Osbourne, D-Merrimack, Richard Osbourne.

Auburn may double parks and rec budget

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 22:12:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

The Auburn Parks and Recreation Department is looking for a budget of $99,302 for the year to make improvements to facilities and recreation areas around town, pay salaries for part-time employees, and fund family and senior events.

Last year, voters approved a little more than $40,000 for the department after resident Norm Bouley said he asked for about $200,000 in his original proposed budget to begin making some of the repairs and improvements that he contends are vital to the safety and enjoyment of the town’s parks and facilities.

Selectmen approved the 2008 budget amount at a meeting on Nov. 19, down $13,000 from what Bouley proposed to the board.

Bouley told selectmen the department is playing catch-up now with projects that are long overdue.

The department asked for $35,000 in improvements and maintenance costs for playgrounds and parks, which includes $14,000 to make Wayne Eddows field ADA-compliant and $2,300 for the Bicentennial stone project.

Bouley said many of the facilities and fields need new equipment, and potholes plague the soccer fields, all of which constitute safety hazards.

Selectman James Head acknowledged there were safety issues with the fields. The board asked Bouley to cut $10,000 out of that amount before it goes to the Budget Committee. Other points of contention over the budget came from the proposed salaries for the Parks and Recreation secretary, Tracy Noonan, and a general maintenance position.

Selectman Harland Eaton pointed out that they have to be able to justify the salaries to voters, and asked if Noonan’s added duties in the past couple of years constituted a redefinition of her role.

“That’s the decision the selectmen are faced with,” Noonan said. Her proposed salary, $10,000 for the year, remained untouched.

A $12,000 line for the maintenance salary was cut to $9,000, which the selectmen and Bouley agreed upon. Last year, only $1,500 went to that position. Eaton agreed that all of the repairs and improvements in the budget were needed, but that cuts were made in the interest of getting the budget passed. He suggested that some items be put off until the next budget year.

Residents to vote on both middle school and public kindergarten

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 20:48:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Auburn residents will vote on two major school warrant articles this year, with the statemandated public kindergarten decision added to a planned joint middle school bond.

Auburn is one of 11 school districts in the state without a publicly funded kindergarten program. Given a decision made at the state level in the spring, the town must now deal with offering kindergarten.

The 10 other districts without public kindergarten are Chester, Litchfield, Salem, Windham, Derry, Pelham, Milford, Lyndeborough, Hudson and Mascenic Regional.

The legislation called for the 11 districts to comply with the state mandate by September 2008. Earlier this month, state Education Commissioner Lyonel Tracy called for an extension of that deadline to September 2009, which may or may not be realized.

SAU 15 Superintendent Phil Littlefield, in charge of the Hooksett, Auburn and Candia schools, said Auburn is fortunate in having good models for the program in Candia and Hooksett. The problem, he said, is going to be finding space.

Littlefield said they are looking at a variety of possibilities to house kindergarten classes based on projected enrollment figures, which predict that the town will need three daily kindergarten sessions that would require three classrooms.

Auburn School Board members said space will be made at Auburn Village School to house the classes rather than installing additional portables on the school’s property.

“If we do something within the building, it squeezes another program in the building,” Littlefield said. “We have to look at that.”

Auburn School Board members unanimously voted to support public kindergarten at a recent meeting, said board member Kathleen Porter, but rejected an initial idea to squeeze Auburn kindergartners into Hooksett or Candia schools.

“It was on our list of potential possibilities,” said Auburn School Board Chairman Elaine Hobbs, but space issues in those two districts made that option virtually impossible.

Space issues have been an ongoing theme with Auburn Village School and Moore School in Candia, prompting the collaboration of the two school boards to look into planning for a joint middle school.

Both Candia and Auburn voters will see warrant articles this March to weigh in on the joint middle school, Auburn’s for a 20-year $29 million bond and Candia’s for a tuition agreement covering about 38 percent of that bond based on enrollment figures.

The Auburn School Board will also go with a warrant article for the kindergarten funding, but nothing has been set yet in terms of costs.

Auburn board members Porter, Hobbs and Bob Hayes agreed they would not delay the joint middle school bond until next year’s election.

At this point, it is unclear how big a monkey wrench the mandated public kindergarten funding will throw into the mix.

Auburn and Candia residents have added their input on the joint middle school, designed by the Manchester-based Team Design Inc., in numerous public information sessions over the past months.

State aid is available for both projects which would help fund any construction costs which would minimize the blow to taxpayers.

The joint middle school qualifies to be reimbursed for 40 percent of the total project cost, which comes to $25.7 million. That reimbursement is already factored into the cost breakdown, reducing the project cost to the $14.8 million. Candia’s share of that cost would be $5.9 million.

In the second year of the bond payments, the most expensive, Auburn taxpayers will see a tax increase of $1.91 per $1,000 of assessed value. In the same year, Candia’s tax increase will be $2.13 per $1,000 of assessed value. For residents owning $250,000 homes, this amounts to an additional $477.50 on Auburn’ tax bills and $532.50 on Candia’s in that year.

When the Auburn School District determines a solid figure on public kindergarten funding to bring to voters, the effect on taxes will come to the forefront.

Littlefield said he expects the Legislature to resume in the spring and come up with additional funding techniques for the 11 school districts affected by the public kindergarten mandate.

“I think the Legislature certainly has been made aware of that September 2008 deadline and the burden that’s placing on communities,” Littlefield said.

Littlefield said he intends to aim for the September 2008 deadline despite talks about a yearlong stay of that deadline, adding that he sees the mandate as the state’s natural reaction to a national trend in education.

“It’s something that has to be on our radar screen,” Littlefield said, referring to public kindgarten as a national issue.

He said that although Auburn has several highly rated private kindergartens, and admitted that he was surprised at the deadline, he thinks the state’s decision will benefit Auburn’s children.

“I think once we get over that initial shock, and we see how we can make this happen because it’s in the best interest of the youngsters, I think it becomes doable,” he said.

Auburn School Board ratifies tuition agreement for middle school

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 19:54:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Auburn School Board members ratified the tuition agreement in a unanimous vote for the proposed Candia-Auburn middle school on Tuesday, Nov. 13. Candia School Board members voted 4–1 in favor of ratifying the agreement at a recent meeting.

Tax impact numbers recently produced for both towns show year two of the 20-year agreement being the most expensive for taxpayers.

Candia residents owning homes assessed at $300,000 would see a $240 increase in their property taxes in year one, then it jumps to $639 in year two. Auburn residents owning homes of the same value would pay $213 in year one and $573 in year two. After year two, the tax impact declines by about 7 cents per $1,000 of assessed value each year.

Auburn pays less per household, said Auburn School Board Chairman Kathleen Porter, because of its larger tax base.

The two boards have been working on plans with Team Design, Inc., a Manchesterbased architectural firm that has extensive experience building schools.

Engineer Dan Bisson has made several presentations to residents in both towns. The proposed 102,000-square-foot regional school would include a high school-sized gymnasium, outdoor classroom, energy saving efficiencies, and more comprehensive programming than what is currently offered at the Moore and Village schools.

Bisson said Team Design has worked with other towns on plans for regional schools, citing the example of Pittsfield and Barnstead, which have not succeeded due to conflicts over control.

Both Candia and Auburn have conducted facilities studies in the past to determine the needs for the Village and Moore schools, which Candia and Auburn school board members said pointed to the need for more class space and better educational programs.

A committee charged with researching and analyzing the programming and space needs in the Village School went before the school board members in March 2003 with 13 pages of recommendations, said Auburn School Board member Elaine Hobbs.

Hobbs said the town would not qualify for state aid to expand the Village School at its current location because there is no room for such an undertaking.

“We do not meet the land requirements for a school that size,” she said. The Village School sits in 15 acres of land and is surrounded by wetlands, a cemetery and forest.

In March 2005, Moore School Facilities Committee members presented a facility analysis at the school district meeting which called for upgrades to the building’s infrastructure as well as expanding the gymnasium, building a new media center and adding science labs.

The New Hampshire School Administrators Association assessed both schools, Candia in 2002 and Auburn in 2003.

Some of the recommendations for the schools were to adopt year-round school calendars, which would require expansion; to add portable classrooms, which the Village School has done; and to provide new facilities for grades 6 to 8.

The first portable was added to the Village School grounds in 1995, the second in 2002 and the third in 2004, for a total of six classrooms. According to the New Hampshire School Administrators Association, portables are a short-term solution in dealing with enrollment increases and loss of space.

“It is generally not seen as a wise investment of public resources to solve a long-term problem,” the study states.

SAU 15 Superintendant Phil Littlefield said both towns would benefit from a regional middle school in the long run.

“You have two districts whose middle school program is not well supported by the facility, so it becomes very efficient to join the two,” said Littlefield.

“By combining the two student populations, we’re much more efficient in delivering teaching and learning.”

Operating costs from the two current schools would increase anyway in the future, he said.

Littlefield said inflation over the next few years will increase operating costs at both schools, and that the potential operating costs of the proposed joint school, projected at $3.6 million per year, would not differ much from the operating costs both towns will see individually.

“I think we’ve seen a recognition in both communities that school facilities need to be addressed,” Littlefield said.

First-year MHS coach gives voice to positive outlook

Hooksett Editor — Thu, 17 May 2007 15:23:00 GMT

BY SAPNA PATHAK

For Beth Dooley, the best part of being the head coach of Memorial’s girls lacrosse team is never having to be quiet. The first-year mentor leads a Crusaders squad that hasn’t seen a win in more than two years.

But not having to hold her tongue has kept the Crusaders smiling and positive despite their winless record.

“I was an assistant coach at Plymouth (State University),” said Dooley. “But now I can say whatever I want because it’s my own program. I can get on them about the bad things, but then be the first one to talk about the good things. We don’t talk about the bad anymore, but look at every good thing we did each game.”

Though Dooley brings college playing and coaching experience to the Crusaders, she said the transition to high school wasn’t what she expected.

From a roster full of players with developed lax skills, Dooley now leads athletes who never picked up a stick prior to making the Memorial roster.

The team’s improvement was evident in a 12-6 loss to city rival West on May 10. The Crusaders posted their second highest-scoring performance of the year. Their best offensive attack came a week prior in a 13-9 loss to Central.

“We’re a very new program with no feeder program,” said Auburn senior Jenna Stitt. “It’s hard because we’re so much less experienced than other teams. But we’re getting better.

We can see it. Our first game against West we went out and tried, but this time you could see it in the score, in shots-on-goal, in interceptions.”

Stitt shares the captaincy with goalie Cassie Cronin, who logged 14 saves against West, center Natasha Poulin and Nicole Adinolfo, who each scored one goal against the Blue Knights. Poulin and Adinolfo lead a Crusaders offense that’s recorded 25 goals in 11 games.

Freshmen standouts Samantha Gonzalez and Alison Gogna, both of Auburn, give the team a strong nucleus for the future. Gonzalez, an attack/ wing, put up one goal against West, while Gogna played well at different positions.

Poulin led Memorial’s scoring with three goals against West.

“I’ve got 30 people on the roster, and you have to try to keep everyone positive,” said Dooley. “Every game we always end on a positive note. I want everyone to know it’ll take time to turn things around, but if we stay positive, it’ll be a lot more fun.”