Auburn News : School

Auburn town, school budgets kept almost even

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:08:00 GMT

BY TOBY HENRY

Auburn officials focused on energy costs for the next year as they fine-tuned the town budget during a Jan. 15 meeting.

According to a draft of the proposed town budget released that day, the town’s proposed operating budget is $4.33 million, a slight increase over the $4.25 million that is listed as the final expenditures for 2008. The draft indicates that the Police Department, with slightly over a million dollars in expenses, is the single largest budget area, with the fire department at $355,580 and local government costs totaling $917,477.

During the Thursday night meeting, Budget Committee Chairman Lew Theos noted that gasoline costs, previously at around $1.50 in the region, have started to creep up lately. Committee member Jan Rego, also the Police Department’s office manager, said that the priceper- gallon had been “sky high” when the initial fuel prices were calculated this summer, but the price has since dropped from those peak levels.

The main fuel-related issue that night was how much to budget for the Auburn Police Department’s gasoline costs for the year, an amount that Theos said originally stood at $40,000 but was later dropped to $35,000. Committee member Deirdre Nash moved to drop the final fuel allocation for that department to $30,000, but the motion failed.

Later, some committee members opted to reconsider utility costs for the Fire Department, but in the end the amounts remained the same. The Fire Department has $7,182 budgeted for electricity and the heating oil allocation is at $10,500.

Overall, Town Administrator Bill Herman said wages come to $1,181,089, comprising about one-quarter of the total budget, with MediCare costs at $170,070. The final budget figure arrived at by the committee was $4,334,540, with a default budget a bit lower, at $4,313,233.

Concerning the town’s income, a total of $2,983,385 is listed for the coming year, with $1.1 million estimated as income from motor vehicle permit fees. State meals and rooms tax was estimated at $210,000 with business license permits totaling $42,000.

Selectman Al Sampson questioned an income item of nearly $200,000 which was listed among miscellaneous revenues under sale of municipal properties. Herman said that income was from the final payment on the Wellington Business Park.

Although the final budget was only a small increase over last year’s expenditures, Sampson noted that a steep drop in estimated income means that an additional $686,000 will need to be raised through taxes. The estimated amount of taxes to be raised is $2,021,015.

Also that night, school officials gave their final budget figure as $10,744,514, an increase of less than 1 percent. The school’s default budget is higher than the proposed budget, at $10,876,762.

New gym floor may be given to Village School

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:10:00 GMT

BY GINGER KOZLOWSKI

If some “hoopster” families have their way, Auburn Village School will soon have a new floor in its gymnasium, and it won’t have cost taxpayers a penny.

Jamie Cote posted a notice in the Auburn Vigilant Citzens online group that the PTA has created the GIFT committee to raise $40,000 for a new floor. GIFT stands for Gymnasium Improvements For Today.

“I do not need to go much into why we believe we need a new floor,” he said. “You’ve seen plenty of the slipping and sliding, seen the cracked tiles, and likely have heard from your kids how hard the floor is on the body.”

Cote said many options were looked at for a new floor, and $40,000 seemed to be the needed amount for a June installation. His group of supporters did explore asking for the money from taxpayers through a warrant article, but decided it was unlikely to be approved.

“Many of us are of the opinion at this juncture that if we don’t do it ourselves, it won’t get done,” he posted. “We’ve met with the School Board and they are fully supportive of our venture.” The committee has set several donation levels:
• Standard – $100 to $249.
• Bronze – $250 to $499.
• Silver – $500 to $999.
• Gold – $1,000 to $2,499.
• Platinum – $2,500 and up.

Checks can be written to Auburn PTA, with “GIFT” in the memo. You can mail it to Auburn PTA – GIFT Committee, P.O. Box 19, Auburn NH 03032. They will follow with a receipt for your records. This is a taxdeductible donation.

Businesses will also be recognized for corporate donations. For details, contact Cote at InLoveWithDOTS@aol.com or 603-244-9416.

Auburn’s first public kindergarten opens

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:09:00 GMT

BY TOBY HENRY

An important local milestone was reached on Aug. 27 when the first public kindergarten in town history debuted before a crowd of enthusiastic children and parents.

“Auburn has waited so long, and I think it’s just a wonderful thing to finally have kindergarten here,” said local mother Heather Graves, whose 5-year-old daughter Caitrin is among the more than 40 students registered for the Auburn Village School’s first kindergarten.

“They’ve done a great job putting everything together and I think they’re just going to have a great year.”

More than 70 people were at the afternoon ceremony to hear new Principal Ron Pedro announce that the kindergarten was “officially open” after only a few months of work by contractor Pidella Construction. The two kindergarten rooms had originally been an industrial arts area for older students, but all traces of that former room seemed to have vanished beneath a new floor and fresh paint.

“This is an exciting day, isn’t it?” said Pedro to the crowd of parents, prospective students and their siblings. “I just came in, and I get to start the first kindergarten. I feel very, very lucky.”

Following his brief speech, Superintendent Dr. Charles “Phil” Littlefield announced that the kindergarten is “a wonderful opportunity” for some of the youngest students in his district, noting that the kindergarten has been an issue that Auburn has been struggling with for years. Previously, Auburn was one of about 10 school districts in the nation that did not offer public kindergarten, and as of today, Milford and several other New Hampshire school districts still do not have kindergarten.

After the ribbon-cutting, parents introduced themselves to Pedro and kindergarten teachers Cheryl Kaake and Melissa Tanguay while some of the incoming kindergarten students took the opportunity to get more acquainted with the classroom that they’ll be spending many days in over the next nine months. For the most part, the historical significance of being part of the town’s first-ever kindergarten class was lost on the 4- and 5-year-olds, who were much more interested in the classroom toys and books.

“It’s good. I like the puppet show the best,” said 4-year-old Ian Algozzine.

Officials and residents both expressed thanks to town voters, who approved the $382,833 renovation project to create the kindergarten by a 4-1 margin in March. Ultimately, the project wound up costing local voters slightly under $100,000 after the district was given a state aid package of $287,125.

School Board members also received praise, and Littlefield hailed board Chairman Elaine Hobbs as “a warrior” for the project which finally brought kindergarten to the last School Administration Unit 15 town which did not offer it. The opening day event was also a personal one for board member Cathi Porter, whose own daughter Katherine is among the kindergarten’s first students.

“I couldn’t make kindergarten happen for my older (children), and I think this kindergarten is a real blessing,” she said.

School officials said the kindergarten was scheduled to begin on Sept. 2, and as of Aug. 27 some 42 students were registered.

School Board also considers Auburn-only middle or elementary school

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:00:00 GMT

BY TOBY HENRY

Auburn school officials report good progress on the construction of a new kindergarten area while plans to address building a new school facility are on hold.

School Board Chairman Elaine Hobbs said that, in all likelihood, the lack of space at the town’s only public school will still persist this year as staff tries to find a way to make do with the space in the building they have. Although Hobbs and other school officials had hoped for a new two-town, 100,000- square-foot middle school with neighboring Candia, the latter town’s voters shot down the 20- year tuition contract needed for the project to continue, and the project was subsequently pulled from the agenda before it came to Auburn’s voters earlier this year.

“A lot of the people who were in support of it were very disappointed, because it would have been a very good educational benefit to our students,” she said. “My sense is that ... it was a significant defeat; no gray there, it’s all black and white. We’re kind of looking at where we go from here, because we’re basically back to the drawing board.”

Hobbs said that, given the current economic climate, 2009 won’t be the year for a new school proposal in Auburn either. At a recent retreat, Hobbs said the board decided not to start working on another project to present to voters in early 2009, and instead the board’s focus for the next year will be the facilities master plan.

She said the most likely scenario for the coming years is that the town will look at Auburn-only solutions, which could eventually include looking at a new elementary school. Hobbs noted that despite the vote in Candia, Auburn officials still have their architectural drawing for the 101,000-squarefoot school building, and they also plan to retain ownership of the land near Route 101’s Exit 2 where the middle school would have been built.

While concerns about the school’s space needs persist, Hobbs and new Auburn Village School Principal Ron Pedro said a bright spot on the horizon is the progress being made on the town’s first-ever public kindergarten. Pedro, who took the helm at AVS following the recent retirement of Principal Anita Johnson, said he has only been to two construction meetings so far but added the project is proceeding as planned.

According to the plan, a former industrial arts area in the school will be turned into two kindergarten rooms, and Pedro said two walls and some window frames have been put up by Goffstown contractor Pidella Corporation. The $382,833 kindergarten project was approved by voters in March following a piece of legislation which mandated kindergartens in the remaining New Hampshire towns which do not yet have them.

Although another piece of legislation recently approved by the governor gives towns an additional year to start kindergarten classes, Pedro said Auburn still intends to have its kindergarten start in the fall. As of late June, there were roughly 45 children in three classes signed up for the first year of public kindergarten.

School Board prohibits drinking in building at community events

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:00:00 GMT

BY TOBY HENRY

Questions over prohibition of alcohol at Auburn’s only public school continue to be raised after the School Board’s recent decision left one local charity without a place to hold its popular open-bar dances.

On June 10, the Auburn School Board voted 4-1 on a policy revision which bars alcohol from being inside Auburn Village School, mirroring a policy that was set in place years ago regarding cigarette smoking.

Local policy had previously allowed alcohol to be served in the school gymnasium after 7 p.m. on Saturdays if no minors were present at the event.

Norm Bouley, head of the Auburn-Candia Lions Club, said the new policy curtails much of his group’s fundraising endeavors in town, including the openbar dances in the school’s gym, which Bouley said have been taking place for nearly 40 years without incident.

While School Administrative Unit 15 Superintendent Dr. Charles “Phil” Littlefield and School Board Chairman Elaine Hobbs say the prohibition decision has children’s interests at heart, Bouley said the gymnasium -- as Auburn’s only large place for the community to gather -- falls under the jurisdiction of the community at large.

“There’s no negative effect on children if we hold a dance here, with alcohol, on a Saturday night when there’s no children around,” Bouley said on June 12. “A lot of people have been telling us that the gym was built to be used by the community ... and we’re investigating all avenues to regain use of that building.”

The board’s decision comes in the wake of an April incident in which a Manchester resident allegedly fell asleep during an April Lions Club dance and then awoke hours later, believing himself to be locked inside the building. Auburn police say Michael Coakley allegedly ran instead of asking to be let out of the building after being spotted by police, and he was charged with two counts of criminal mischief. His trial is scheduled for Aug. 6.

Although the Lions Club and any other nonprofit group can still use the school’s gymnasium as long as they adhere to the alcohol-free policy, Bouley said alcohol has traditionally been a part of many of the Lions community fundraisers. But during the June 10 meeting, Hobbs and School Board member Robert Hayes said they’d long been thinking about whether or not it is appropriate to have alcohol in the building, and Littlefield later said that he and other school officials need to have a narrow focus when considering the welfare of children.

“This has been a policy that we’ve grappled with as a board for seven years ... and it seems to me that for 39 years, or even 10 years, the philosophy behind alcohol use in a public building is something that does not sit well,” Hayes said. “Alcohol does not belong in a public school.” “I’m an advocate for children -- I have blinders,” Littlefield said. “We don’t teach children how to ‘drink responsibly,’ we teach them about the health issues surrounding alcohol. I don’t believe alcohol and kids mix.”

Ultimately, board member Alan Villeneuve was the only one to speak out against the board’s policy change on June 10, and he branded the move as a “prohibitionist” gesture that did little to recognize the AVS gym as a community center.

“This was put up as a community facility,” he said. “I don’t think (the policy change) tells anyone in our community about the proper place for alcohol ... and I don’t believe that’s the way to go.”

On June 12, Hobbs reiterated her earlier sentiments that the policy change is not a punitive measure toward the Lions or anyone else, stating that it is a “philosophical change” that came about after a consideration of what is in the best interests of children. But Bouley said the children his group provides for -- the Lions have given two pairs of eyeglasses and a Braille reader, among other things, to AVS students in recent years -- may be the ones who lose out in the end.

Without the dances, Bouley said his group’s losses could top $10,000 annually.

“We may have to move things to Manchester, because there’s nothing available in the area, but what we’re looking at right now is if they (the School Board) really do have the right to regulate it,” he said. “We’re going to explore all the avenues.”

City’s proposed high school cuts scare parents, students; April 28 meeting set

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:34:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Parents of high school students being tuitioned to Manchester schools may want to attend a meeting at Manchester Memorial High School on Monday, April 28, at 6 p.m., to discuss the proposed staffing and programming cuts the fiscal year 2009 Manchester school budget will bring.

School officials have been grappling with the gouging cuts after Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta requested the city’s Board of Aldermen reduce the district’s budget from $153 million to $140 million for the coming year.

Many teaching and administrative positions in all Manchester schools are being cut from the budget to realize the savings, including the eight assistant principals recently given notice of possible layoffs.

Music, art, ROTC, full-day kindergarten and athletics have also been cut from the budget, leaving many parents worried about the quality of education and level of character-building Manchester schools will now provide.

Many Hooksett students attend West High School, where the phasing out of Bedford students, thanks to a new high school in Bedford, has left a $7 million shortfall in expected revenues.

Auburn and Candia high school students are also tuitioned to Manchester high schools. Chris Martin, director of fine arts for the Manchester School District, holds one of the many positions being cut from the budget.

Eliminating this position puts extra duties on the even slimmer music staff in place, some of whom are also being cut.

“I think this community appreciates the arts. The community needs to speak out about what’s important to it,” said Martin.

Hooksett resident Tom Shepherd, whose daughter, Julia, 8, will one day attend a Manchester high school – unless Hooksett eventually decides to build its own high school, calls it an idea some residents support. “We keep paying more for education in Manchester and getting less out of it. It’s like any investment,” Shepherd said. “At some point, you have to evaluate the investment and say we’re not getting the return.”

Martin said it’s hard to say what else could be cut from the budget to save money when revenues have fallen so flat for the district.

“If I could think of a way for a public education to be a revenue- generating source, I would win a Nobel prize,” Martin said. “Unfortunately, we are dependent on the tax dollar and right now that’s not a healthy position for us to be in, given the state of the economy.”

Auburn Village School principal retires, Hooksett principal will move to Auburn

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:33:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

After seven years on the job, Hooksett Cawley School Principal Ron Pedro has decided to take the open principal’s position at Auburn Village School. Hooksett Memorial School Assistant Principal Steve Harrises will take over as Cawley principal, effective July 1. With some administrative shuffling within SAU 15, the assistant principal posts at both Cawley and Memorial are open as well.

“I’m very excited about the elementary piece,” Pedro said of his new job at the K-8 school in Auburn, adding he would dearly miss the Hooksett students and frequent interactions with the community.

The Auburn position came up at the end of March, when Principal Anita Johnson announced she would be retiring at the end of the school year. Pedro, interested in getting involved with the elementary levels and particularly the kindergarten implementation, applied and was selected from about 10 candidates. The Auburn School Board appointed Pedro to the position at their meeting Tuesday, April 8.

“Auburn is right on the cusp of change right now,” Pedro said, referencing their space and programming issues as well as the Auburn School Board’s interest in building a new school.

Hooksett School Board Chairman Maura Ouellette said while they will miss Pedro at Cawley, she is happy to see him pursue his interests.

“Ron Pedro had expressed an interest in working with younger students. This is a great opportunity for him and we wish him all the best and thank him for his years of dedicated service to Hooksett,” said Ouellette. The Auburn School Board expressed similar wishes for Johnson in her retirement, but members are excited to have Pedro on board.

“We’re just really going to miss (Johnson), but we wish her the best,” said Auburn School Board Vice Chairman Kathi Porter, adding that the board is excited to have a “fresh set of eyes” on the Village School’s issues.

She added the timing is perfect to get Pedro into the Village School in time to set up kindergarten for the coming school year.

“My goal is to pretty much follow on all those great things that Ron Pedro and Becky Wing have gotten rolling over the years,” Harrises said, adding he is excited at the idea of knowing the Cawley student body from his first day on the job, having seen the great majority of them come through Memorial.

“It excites me so much that I’ll carry these kids from their third-grade year to their eighthgrade year,” Harrises said. “I enjoy seeing kids growing an going through different situations and questioning.”

With Cawley’s current Assistant Principal Becky Wing having been officially approved as the Hooksett School District’s math coordinator for next year, that leaves two assistant principal positions open, one at Memorial and one at Cawley. Wing said she’s excited to spearhead the math coordinator position and shape it to fit the needs of Hooksett schools, adding one of the main goals is to improve math scores both in the classroom and on standardized testing.

“I want to see kids leave our district with a good solid math background and a love of math,” said Wing, whose educational and instructional background is in math.

“When you’re the first person to go into a position, I think that makes it all that more exciting, really,” Wing said.

Superintendent Phil Littlefield said the assistant principal job openings have been posted in newspapers and online, and that two separate committees will be formed to screen applications and narrow down candidates before turning the process over to the SAU administration. Littlefield said the openings were just posted Friday, April 11, so no applications had come in as of press time.

Each committee will include the principal – Harrises for Cawley’s committee and Principal Carol Soucy for Memorial’s – plus five teachers, one support staff member and three parents.

Of the five teachers on each screening team, one would come from each grade level, one would be a unified arts staff member and the remaining teacher spot would be filled by someone from special education or guidance. The Hooksett Education Association, the teacher’s union, will select all five of them, Littlefield said.

Out of the three parents on each committee, one will be the principal’s choice, one will be the PTA/PTO’s choice and the third will be the school district volunteer coordinator’s choice.

The candidates filtered by that process will go into interviews with the SAU staff, including Littlefield, Assistant Superintendent Gail Kushner and Business Administrator Karen Lessard, among others.

From that group of interviewees, the SAU staff will settle on one candidate to bring before the School Board for consideration. “We’re hoping on or about June 10 to bring a candidate for each position to the Hooksett School Board so that they can conduct the final interview,” Littlefield said.

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 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.

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 may have to offer kindergarten

Hooksett Editor — Thu, 03 May 2007 14:12:00 GMT

BY NICHOLAS BROWN

When Auburn Village School Principal Anita Johnson moved to New Hampshire from the Midwest in 1978, she was shocked to find Auburn had no public kindergarten. The possibility that a public program didn’t exist had never occurred to her.

“It’s like if you’re buying a house. Do you ask if there’s a bathroom? No,” she said, “No. You ask ‘How many?’”

In 1978, New Hampshire and Mississippi were the last states in the union to require public kindergarten.

Fast-forward nearly 30 years.

Mississippi has long since followed suit with the rest of the 48 states, and Auburn is one of about a dozen communities in the state – including nearby Salem, Pelham and Windham – without public kindergarten.

But the New Hampshire House has proposed a court-ordered definition of an “adequate education” that includes a mandatory half-day kindergarten.

While the definition still must survive the scrutiny of the New Hampshire Senate and Gov. John Lynch, public kindergarten may be on Auburn’s horizon, whether voters there like it or not.

“I’d love to see it,” said Johnson.

“It’s been very slow coming in New Hampshire. It’s just part of the culture.”

In the mid-1990s, a majority of Auburn voters denied proposal to add a half-day kindergarten program to the district. Current Auburn School Board Chairman Elaine Hobbs remembers being a part of a kindergarten committee then when her son was 4 years old. He’s now a freshman in high school.

Hobbs said there haven’t been any formal proposals for kindergarten since the mid- 1990s vote because of another lingering issue – overcrowding at Auburn Village School.

“(Kindergarten) kind of took a spot on the back burner at that time,” Hobbs said. “The thinking was if we can alleviate the overcrowding at AVS, then we could think about public kindergarten.”

But several new school or joint school proposals have since fallen by the wayside, leaving the prospect of kindergarten stranded on that “back burner,” Hobbs said.

The board has recently been focusing on its partnership with neighboring Candia for a middle school, whereby Auburn would build a new school which Candia students would attend based on a long-term tuition agreement.

The Auburn School Board hopes to have a bond proposal for a new school at the 2008 annual School District Meeting.

Hobbs said the board hasn’t even had time to project the costs of a new kindergarten, though the state would cover 75 percent of initial kindergarten construction costs.

“We haven’t spent a whole lot of time and money studying that right now,” she said.

For some residents, Auburn’s lack of public kindergarten continues to be a black eye.

“I think it’s a disgrace to be one of 13 towns in the nation without it,” said Deb Cheetham, the mother of an AVS student.

Cheetham said many area parents can’t easily afford spending several hundred dollars a month to send their children to kindergarten, plus the added costs of day care either before or after the half-day programs available at several area private preschool and kindergarten providers.

When children finally do start first grade, she said, “You could have a child that’s been in preschool three years, and a child with no school.”

Cheetham and Johnson both praised Auburn’s private kindergarten providers – the Auburn Village Children’s Center, Tiny Tots Preschool and Kindergarten and the Auburn Montessori School – for the quality of education they provide, but Johnson said she gets several incoming students each year who’ve had no classroom experience. She also said first-graders come in from as many as 25 different area kindergarten providers.

Auburn Village Childrens Center Director Marjorie Fowler said the center currently has 19 kindergarten students, and in the fall will be expanding its half-day kindergarten sessions to a full-day program, a move that’s becoming more common in public kindergartens throughout the country.

The full-day program will cost $390 a month, she said.

Fowler said she’d hate to lose the business if public kindergarten was forced on Auburn by the state, but also said it would be a “great thing.”

Fowler also said kindergartners make up only a fraction of the business – 71 children attend preschool at the center – and said if that segment is lost, the center could focus more on preschool programs for younger students.

“I would miss my kindergarten teacher,” she said.

Hobbs, who was initially drawn into Auburn school affairs because of the kindergarten issue, said the School Board now is heavily in favor of instituting a public kindergarten program.

And if the House’s definition of an adequate education is altered to remove kindergarten, or if it fails at the hands of the Senate, kindergarten would still be a vital issue locally, Hobbs said, especially if voters approve a new school proposal that would take sixth- through eighth-graders out of Auburn Village School.

“(Instituting kindergarten) would be a board decision, and then, ultimately, a community decision,” she said.