Just one week after a grueling seven-hour Town Meeting, citizens of Candia reconvened at Henry W. Moore School for their second deliberative session.

While the meeting on Jan. 31 was to discuss the town budget and other social programs, the deliberative session of School District Meeting on Feb. 7 focused on school funding. The figures voted on during this session are the figures that will go on the official ballot in March.

With just four articles to be discussed, the majority of the town’s attention was on Warrant Article 2 – the school operating budget. Article 2 is the total of three factors: the school budget, grant money and food services. However, the school budget accounts for roughly 95 percent of the article.

Ed Caito, chairman of the School Board, began the debate by recommending an amendment to the article that would add more than $170,000 to the yearly school budget the Budget Committee recommended.

Caito explained that the School Board had taken a “proactive approach” in developing a comprehensive system to determine exactly how much money would be needed.

The goal, said Caito, is to “maintain the level of education of the children of Candia that the voters of Candia have supported so strongly over the years.”

Carla Penfield, an active member of the Budget Committee, stressed that the struggling economy is demanding cutbacks.

“It’s the responsibility of both the town and the school to make do,” said Penfield.

Despite Penfield’s insistence though, Caito and the School Board had the overwhelming support of the voters. Out of nine citizens who addressed the crowd through the microphone in the front of the room, eight urged voters to side with the School Board and spend a few more dollars for the sake of the children. Several speakers even received large ovations for their impassioned speeches.

In his final remarks before the vote went to a secret ballot, Caito reminded voters that, it was their “responsibility as a community to advocate and balance (their) own individual needs with the needs of (their) children.”

Eighty-two percent (102 of 126) of those who cast ballots sided with the School Board. The final budget to be voted on in March is $7,794,384.25. If the budget is approved, Moore School will be able to keep the school psychologist position and will have the option of rehiring one teacher who is considering retirement. The Budget Committee recommended that the town eliminate those positions.