Candia News : Auburn

Towns seeing spikes as tax rates are set

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:40:00 GMT

BY GINGER KOZLOWSKI

Tax rates are being set for the year, and some towns, like Candia, are seeing large increases.

Candia
In Candia, the new tax rate increased by $2.31 per $1,000 of property value, to $20.90, a 12 percent hike.

The new rate will result in a bill of $5,225 for the owner of a home assessed at $250,000, about $577 higher than last year.

The town portion of the rate is responsible for the bulk of the hike, going from $2.75 to $4.40, a 60 percent increase. The school portion rose from $12.12 to $12.72; the county portion from $1.08 to $1.09; and the state portion from $2.64 to $2.69.

Epsom
In Epsom, the tax rate rose from $15.14 per $1,000 of property value to $17.35, a 14.5 percent increase. The owner of a $250,000 property should expect a bill of $4,337.50.

The town portion is $2.60, county portion is $2.51, state portion is $21.5, and the local school portion if $10.09.

Bills were expected to be mailed soon, said Epsom tax collector Dawn Blackwell, with payment due by Dec. 15.

Auburn
In Auburn, the tax rate rose 85 cents per $1,000 of property value, moving from $13.71 to $14.55, a 6 percent increase. The owner of a home valued at $250,000 can expect a tax bill of $3,637.50.

The town portion of the rate rose from $1.91 to $2.26; the school portion from $8.57 to $9.09; and the county portion from 90 cents to 94 cents. The state portion of the tax rate actually decreased from $2.33 to $2.26.

Auburn tax collector Kathleen Sylvia said bills were to be mailed by Nov. 7 and are due by Dec. 10.

Pembroke
The 2008 rate rose $2.16 to $25.82, a 9 percent increase. The town portion is $5.69, down 29 cents; the school portion is $14.98, up $2.15; the state school portion is $2.44, up 3 cents; and the county portion is $2.71; up 27 cents.

At the Town Meeting in March, the Pembroke Budget Committee had predicted a 7.6 percent tax increase for the town and school operating budgets and warrant articles.

At the School District Meeting, voters restored money that would have resulted in staffing and sports team cuts, so the 9 percent increase is very close to what was predicted in March.

Allenstown
Tax rate information was not available by press time.

Celebrating a new courthouse

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:28:00 GMT

BY TOBY HENRY

Candia District Court was visited by more than 30 state and local officials on Monday, Sept. 29, as they attended the official introduction of the state’s newest justice building.

“It’s a beautiful facility, it certainly gives them enough room to conduct court business, and it’s centrally located,” said former Auburn Board of Selectmen Chairman Harlan Eaton. “I would have liked to have kept in in Auburn, but it wasn’t in the cards. I’m very pleased it came here.”

The new Candia District Court on Route 27 (Raymond Road) officially began hearing its first cases in late July after it replaced the now-defunct Auburn District Court on Priscilla Lane. Last year, state officials chose Candia for the site of a new district court to serve the residents of Auburn, Candia, Raymond, Northwood, Nottingham and Deerfield because that town is located in the center of the district it serves.

Officials who spoke at the open house praised the work by Severino Trucking, the local contractor who built the facility.

Linda Hodgdon, commissioner of the Department of Administrative Services, hailed company head Ron Severino for his vision in crafting the building’s traditional brick exterior with its notable Roman columns.

“He really put a lot of himself into it, with a lot of nice finishing touches,” she said. “Very thoughtful.”

As he addressed the crowd in one of the courthouse’s two courtrooms, presiding Judge David LeFrancois said the courthouse was the culmination of discussion that began as early as 2001 on where the new courthouse should be. LeFrancois said that even seven years ago, a number of problems were affecting the Auburn court building, and ultimately, more than a dozen locations were looked at before Candia was chosen.

“What we have from that seed that began in 2001 is ... a beautiful new public building,” he said. “What we have now is a district (court) that is smack in the middle of our six towns.”

Commissioner Hodgdon also said the new building, which was designed by Mary Belecz of the state Bureau of Planning and Management, may ultimately “become the template” for future court buildings across the state. Area officials including Candia Selectmen Chairman Fred Kelley to Chairman James Headd of Auburn’s Board of Selectmen gave the new building high marks.

Headd recalled a time only a few decades ago when visiting circuit judges had to make do with the crowded court conditions in the basement of the Auburn Town Hall.

“I remember pictures of people hanging on the stairs,” he said. “If you had a rather interesting civil trial, you couldn’t pack the people in.”

Police Chief Michael McGillen also noted that new hightech touches such as a camera system and a lockable defendant holding area add a new level of security that the former court lacked.

“We’re very pleased with the facility,” he said.

District court relocates to Candia

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:09:00 GMT

BY TOBY HENRY

The former Auburn District Court is now an empty building after personnel relocated the last remaining files and documents to their new Candia location.

On Monday, July 21, court personnel said they were all but finished with the building that has served as the area’s main criminal and civil courthouse in the area for more than 20 years.

As the last documents were packed up for the trip down Route 101, Deputy Clerk Maureen Murphy said there was little else in the building.

Murphy said she and her fellow court officers were looking forward to Candia’s new building, which is about twice the size of the former Auburn court and has a much larger office area and a second courtroom.

“It’s a more secure building and very spacious,” she said. “Right now there’s not much left here really, just some file cabinets and that’s about it.”

Last year, state officials chose Candia as the new location for the district court, which serves thousands of residents living in Auburn, Raymond, Candia, Nottingham, Deerfield and Northwood, and contractor Severino Construction of Candia recently wrapped up work on the new 8,000-square-foot building. The new facility at 110 Raymond Road (Route 27) was the scene of much activity on Monday morning as workers brought in furniture, computers and thousands of documents while court employees began setting up the new office area, which appeared to be twice the size of the room they’d previously shared in Auburn.

In an earlier interview, Court Clerk Joann Lemay said she’d already completed a full tour of the new building, which she said was similar in design and layout to the Franklin District Court. Lemay said she anticipated everything would be “business as usual” when the building opens to the public.

Judge David LeFrancois, who has presided over the district court for the past nine years, also inspected his new location on Monday, and he said the new building should be free of the infrastructure issues that sometimes delayed court at the Auburn location. Although court staff and local officials did not know much about the history of the former court building, Judge LeFrancois said that problems with termites and plumbing sometimes delayed scheduled cases.

“It was just time to find a better facility,” he said. “The town of Auburn has been a very good host for many years, and we really appreciate that.”

Currently, there are no plans for the old Auburn courthouse.

As of press time court officials said all signs indicate that the building was going to open to the public as scheduled on the morning of July 23. The telephone number for the Candia District Court is 483-2789.

Candia’s ‘no’ vote takes away Auburn’s choice on joint school

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 19:09:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Candia residents decided against the tuition agreement for a joint middle school with Auburn in a 278-766 vote.

The article for a $25 million bond will now come off Auburn’s warrant, being void.

Candia School Board Chairman Karen Smith said she was disappointed with the result, but that the School Board would continue to explore options to upgrade the Moore School.

“I frankly didn’t think the middle school vote was going to be so overwhelmingly against,” Smith said.

Last year, voters approved Candia’s portion of the engineering and design costs to draw up the plans for the 102,000-square-foot school, which included a high-school-sized gymnasium, serveral sports fields, extra class space, an upgraded media center and community spaces.

The plan was for Auburn to make the bond payments with Candia paying yearly for building and operating costs. Based on current enrollment, Auburn taxpayers would pay 62 percent of the building and operating costs and Candia the remaining 38 percent.

Candia School Board member Ingrid Byrd has been joined by other residents against the project from the beginning, saying it would take control away from Candia parents and school officials and that the town wasn’t ready for the tax increase the 20- year tuition agreement would bring.

“I think the major reason it didn’t go is because we have no control over anything at that school,” said selectmen Chairman Fred Kelley, adding the tuition agreeement did not allow Candia residents on the School Board for the new school.

The school was initially proposed to remedy program and facility shortfalls in both Auburn Village and Moore schools as well as projected enrollment jumps in the coming years.

Auburn, now facing the task of instituting public kindergarten by September, designated the existing technology education classrooms for two kindergarten classrooms.

In addition to the middle school, voters in Auburn would have to approve the costs to establish kindergarten.

The Candia School Board gained two new write-in members, Rhonda Thyng and Melissa Madden, after Smith was the sole candidate for one of three open seats following the filing period.

Voters also turned down a warrant article asking for $91,855 to purchase and install a generator at the Moore School, 484-527.

The School Board was triumphant in passing their proposed $7,486,408 operating budget with 697 approving and 302 voting against. The proposed budget was $39,753 less than the default.

On the town side, voters passed the proposed budget of $2,321,660 for 2008-09, a number Candia voters grappled over at the deliberative session in February.

The town also voted to keep the Budget Committee in place, 565-420, after tensions between the Budget Committee and the selectmen surfaced during budget deliberations.

The sale of a 12-acre parcel at Exit 3 for a grocery store also passed with voters, 692-320. Voters also agreed to raise $30,000 for the Candia Youth Athletic Association in a 581-445 vote.

School District Meeting debates middle school

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 20:16:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

The timing of the deliberative session of Candia School District Meeting drew about as much attention from residents as discussion of its warrant articles.

The meeting, called to order at 12:54 p.m., immediately following the deliberative session of Town Meeting, took only about 45 minutes. As opposed to the Town Meeting, at which about 100 residents were present, only a handful stuck around for the School District’s presentation and discussion period for seven warrant articles.

Middle school Dominating most of that time was the last warrant article on the school ballot, asking whether Candia residents want to enter into a tuition agreement with Auburn for a $25 million joint middle school, and further asking them to spend a total of $296,708 for their first payment on the building costs.

This article was the only one that came to the deliberative session without a recommendation from the town’s Budget Committee.

The 20-year tuition agreement gives Auburn administrative control over Candia students, offers first right to refusal of employment for teachers transferring to the new school from the Moore School, and allows Candia residents to participate in an advisory board for the school.

Upon hearing that Candia would not have representation on the joint school’s school board, Marcia Marcotte said simply, “Interesting.”

Based on current enrollment figures, Candia would pay 38 percent of the capital and operating costs and Auburn the remaining 62 percent, figures which will likely change by the 102,000-square-foot school’s potential opening in fall 2010.

The project qualifies for 40 percent reimbursement of the building costs, which would bring the total cost for the project to around $15 million to be split between the two towns.

Several residents expressed that they were not in favor of the proposed school but said something needs to be done for students to upgrade the current facility and programming.

Democratic State Rep. Richard “***” Snow submitted to the School Board members and the small contingency of residents that the $150,000 in a separate warrant article asking to put the money in the school’s capital reserve fund be increased to $500,000 in case the tuition agreement does not pass with Candia voters.

“Something’s going to have to happen next year, and it’s going to be in Auburn or it’s going to be here,” said Snow, adding he proposed the amendment, which later failed, for the sake of discussion.

School Board member Ingrid Byrd, who opposes the joint middle school and did not vote with the rest of the board to ratify the tuition agreement, said that increase in the article would compel voters to vote it down, and no money would go into the capital reserve fund.

The Candia and Auburn school boards have been collaborating on the project since last year, when voters in both towns approved site study and engineering costs for Team Design Inc. of Bedford to investigate whether the site picked out for the school in Auburn was suitable for the construction.

The two boards have held numerous public input sessions for both Candia and Auburn residents to get input on the design, programming, costs and other things associated with the plans.

David Fischer, a building construction technology professor at Manchester’s Community College, has weighed in on the joint school at several of the input sessions.

He backs the joint school in terms of programming upgrades, which would include family and consumer science classes, two languages, and modern science labs, but said he cannot support the tuition agreement from a financial standpoint.

“I think it’s fiscally irresponsible,” said Fischer, adding he felt the School Board should have pushed for a cooperative agreement that would have allowed more control for Candia parents.

He pointed out a section of the tuition agreement which allows Auburn to spend up to $1 million for repairs or renovations without input from Candia.

“They don’t have to ask us, but we’re on the hook. They spend it, we pay it,” Fischer said., arguing the Moore School could be renovated for around $4.5 million in 2009 dollars.

Candia’s portion of the building costs, excluding operating costs which have yet to be solidified, would raise the school tax rate in the town by 80 cents per $1,000 of assessed value the first year, $2.13 per $1,000 the second year, and $2.06 per $1,000 in the third year of the bond.

The tax increases decline in the years after that.

School Board Chairman Karen Smith said that while the operating costs were not yet finalized, preliminary calculations showed a savings from what the Moore School currently costs to operate for a year. She added the numbers were projected and said she could not promise the town would save.

After lengthy discussion, the article was forwarded to the official ballot with no changes other than an amendment from legal counsel making sure the wording is clear that Auburn cannot vote on the school if Candia fails to pass the tuition agreement.

Candia will vote Tuesday, March 11, on the tuition agreement with Auburn. Should it pass, Auburn will vote Friday, March 14, on whether to take out the bond.

Other warrant articles, including the school’s 2008-09 proposed $7,486,408 million proposed budget and $7,526,161 default budget, the article asking for $83,347 to fund the first year of a collective bargaining agreement for Moore School teachers, and another asking for $91,885 to pay for a generator for Moore School all passed to the official ballot with no changes.

Auburn boy awaits word on national Punt, Pass & Kick standings

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 21:20:00 GMT

By Ryan O’connor

Joey Dudek of Auburn has no immediate gridiron plans. That doesn’t mean the son of former Plymouth State standout, Heisman Trophy finalist and Denver Broncos running back Joe Dudek isn’t using his football pedigree to great advantage.

Joey Dudek, 11, won the 10- and 11-year-old division of the local NFL Pepsi Punt, Pass and Kick competition at MerchantsAuto.com Stadium in Manchester on Aug. 7. He also won the sectional competition in Bristol, R.I., on Oct. 14. Then he took the practice field at Gillette Stadium on Oct. 28 prior to the New England Patriots game against the Washington Redskins.

There, after receiving three complimentary tickets to the game for reaching the regional competition, Joey beat all competitors to put himself in position to advance to the national final.

“Punt, pass and kick, for a free type of event, is really first class,” said the senior Dudek. “I mean, it was great to get the tickets to the game and have the opportunity to really enjoy the experience.”

Joey must now wait. His score of 277, which combines his punting, passing and kicking distances, is currently No. 2 in the country.

Fifteen groups of aspiring athletes have competed to date, but there are still 17 groups left. The top four scorers compete at an AFC playoff game in January.

“We’re watching the scoreboard because if he has to start practicing again, we have to find a warm place to do it,” said Joe Dudek.

While elated with his showing at the competition thus far, Joey said the experience has its drawbacks.

“It’s exciting, but I’m frustrated I have to wait to hear if I make the finals or not,” he said. “I kind of wanted to be one of the last people to go, so I had a better idea of what I had to beat.”

Joey’s mother, Jodi, said her son nearly didn’t compete.

“We’ve asked him every year, and each year it’s, ‘No, I think I’m all set.’ But a couple days before the event this year he decided, ‘Yeah, I’ll give it a try,’” she said.

Still, Joey is the first to admit he’d rather be playing hockey or lacrosse.

In addition to his father’s storied football accomplishments, his mother played high school softball and basketball and college field hockey, where she received an Olympic invite before injuring her knee.

“He’s got a nice combo (of athletic genes), and he is a good athlete who seems to pick up any game and do very well after practicing for just a little while,” said Joey’s father. “He works very hard at all the sports he puts the time into.”

In addition to excelling on his travel hockey and lacrosse teams, the sixth-grader tried out for and made the middle school ice hockey team in Derry.

And that is just fine with his father, who said he and his wife encourage Joey and his 7-year-old sister, Taylor, who has already developed a fondness for competitive swimming, to participate in whatever they enjoy.

“I didn’t play organized football until sophomore year in high school, and frankly, if you’re a good athlete, you can take it up right away,” said the former Plymouth State star. “So I’d rather see him take it up later and enjoy now what he wants to do, especially with hockey and lacrosse being sports where you have to develop skill at an earlier stage to be successful.”

Middle school plans progress – Candia School Board OKs new middle school tuition plan, Auburn expected to follow suit

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 19:48:00 GMT

BY JENNIFER McDOWELL

Candia School Board members ratified the tuition agreement for the proposed Candia/Auburn middle school on Thursday, Nov. 1, after a public forum at Moore School at which the projected tax impact for the new school was presented.

Candia school board members voted 4-1 to accept the agreement. Auburn’s board will vote on Tuesday, Nov. 13.

Plans for the school have been in the works for over a year now, after both school boards pursued other measures in previous years to expand their schools and improve their educational programming.

If the vote in Auburn passes, the tuition agreement will go to the state Department of Education for review and approval to make sure it complies with all applicable laws and regulations. Members of both boards hope to get the agreement placed on the agenda for the next school board meeting in December.

At Candia’s vote in March, residents will decide whether to pass the tuition agreement. Voters will have the opportunity to further weigh in on the agreement during the deliberative session of School District Meeting in February, said Candia School Board member Ed Caito.

“We know the time line we have to be under,” Caito said at the public forum.

Should the article pass in Candia, Auburn will vote on a general obligation bond for the school of about $29.7 million to cover the capital costs plus interest for both towns. Candia’s tuition payments will pay for its portion, and Auburn will make payments on the bond itself.

The tuition agreement between the two towns offers Candia teachers first consideration for positions at the new school, protections for both towns should either pull out of the agreement before the 20-year bond period is up, and explains the governance of the proposed school.

Less an anticipated 40 percent in state aid for the project, the school is expected to cost $14.8 million for building and site costs.

Tax impact

The tax impact, based on current assessed value of homes in both towns and projected up to year six of the bond schedule, is less for both in the first year, when only one payment would be made.

In subsequent years, each town would make two payments per year.

For the first capital cost payment, projected in February of 2009, Candia’s payment amounts to $296,707, translating to a school tax increase of 80 cents per $1,000 of assessed value.

Candia residents owning homes assessed at $300,000 would see an increase of $240 in their tax bill in the first year, using those figures, which includes capital costs only. The second year accounts for the biggest increase, $2.13 per $1,000 of assessed value. That amounts to an estimated $639 for residents in $300,000 homes.

The tax impact for Auburn residents is a little less than that of Candia’s because of Auburn’s greater population and number of homes, which lessens the per household impact.

Auburn residents would see an increase of 71 cents per $1,000 of assessed value in the first year of the bond schedule. Those owning $300,000 homes will take on a total increase of $213 in the first year. In the second year, the increase jumps to $1.91 per $1,000 of assessed value, bringing the dollar increase for those in $300,000 homes to $573 per year.

Year two of the bond schedule, said School Board Chairman Karen Smith, sees the deepest impact because the bond payments for both towns are bigger in that year than in any of the others.

Costs

The tax impact numbers are based on the capital cost estimates for both towns and do not yet include Candia’s tuition, using current enrollment to calculate the percentage each town will pay.

Candia is projected to absorb 38 percent of the total project costs and Auburn 62 percent, but those figures will likely change by 2010.

Using those percentages, Candia would pay $11.3 million and Auburn $18.4 million over the 20-year bond schedule in capital costs and interest.

Tuition is not included in the projections, said SAU 15 Business Administrator Karen Lessard, because it will be incorporated into the school operating budgets for both towns.

Candia gets hearing on new school Sept. 27

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 23:09:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Candia residents and Moore School teachers worried about missing either of the scheduled public forums on the proposed Candia-Auburn middle school need not worry.

Candia’s School Board has announced that a special meeting for Candia residents will take place Thursday Sept. 27, at 7 p.m., in the Moore School gymnasium.

Only a few Candia residents made it to the first forum at Auburn Village School on Sept. 11 to view designer Dan Bisson’s plans for the building, receive copies of the draft tuition agreement and hear Auburn School Board Vice Chairman Kathleen Porter review and explain highlights of the agreement.

The Moore School’s open house night was on that night, preventing many parents from attending.

Candia School Board Chairman Karen Smith said many parents were worried about scheduling conflicts with other school events, including a public session on Internet safety scheduled for the same evening, which would prevent them from showing up at the second presentation at Auburn Village School on Tuesday, Sept. 25.

“What I’m planning on doing is mimicking the same format, the same presentation with the same handouts. It should basically be a replay,” Smith said, adding that Bisson, of Team Design Inc., would again present his three-dimensional movie program of the building plans.

“We want to make sure everyone getting the same information,” Smith said.

Smith said it is crucial for Candia residents to voice their opinion on the new school proposal, both in terms of it being related to education of the town’s children and of it having a direct impact on taxes in the town.

Also, with teacher contract negotiations on the horizon for both towns, it’s important for teachers to be informed about a section of the tuition agreement which states that not all of the Moore School’s sixth- through eighth-grade teachers are guaranteed positions at the new school.

“We’re sort of caught between a rock and a hard place with that,” Smith said. “Our teachers are in a collective bargaining unit just like Auburn, so we don’t really have much control or say over what the Auburn teacher’s union will want.”

She added that it seems, based on the number of students combined in the two towns, that most, if not all, of Candia’s teachers would be employed at the school, but that there are no official guarantees.

“When you look at the numbers, you need the middle school teachers that we have just to make the numbers work,” Smith pointed out.

She also said there may be Moore School teachers who would not want to move to the new school, but that those things have not been discussed yet.

As it stands, the draft proposal for the tuition agreement offers Candia middle school teachers first consideration in the hiring process.

Auburn’s teachers’ union would have to agree to allow all of Candia’s teachers to automatically have jobs at the new school.
“I think all of us here are being optimistic, and we’re trying not to close any doors,” Smith said.

At this point, only the building designs and the tuition agreement are topics of discussion at any of the forums.

By October, according to Porter’s presentation in Auburn on Sept. 11, preliminary cost estimates for the project, a major source of anxiety among residents in both towns, should be ready for public input.

Auburn alone will run school – Candia teachers not guaranteed jobs at planned joint middle school

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 23:22:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Candia and Auburn residents raised some concerns about plans for the proposed Candia-Auburn middle school at the first of two public forums.

Kathleen Porter, vice chairman of the Auburn School Board, and Dan Bisson, the building’s designer with Team Design, Inc., ran the forum on Tuesday, Sept. 11, at the Auburn Village School.

Auburn residents made up most of the audience, but a few Candia residents showed up to voice their concerns on handing over their middle school students to another town.

Those who missed this forum can catch the next one on Tuesday, Sept. 25, at 7 p.m., at Auburn Village School.

Building plans

Bisson showed a PowerPoint presentation of the plans for the building, which, at around 100,000 square feet, will accomodate about 600 students.

Constructed with masonry, plans for the exterior of the building feature a main entrance with columns, with a view of the library in the center of the building on the second floor.

“It’s nothing overly fancy, but very commercial. It’s a very New England type of setting,” Bisson said.

Specialty areas, including family and consumer science, music, art and computer classrooms, will be located on the lower level of the building.

According to Bisson, the building will be equipped with various security devices, including locking doors for each wing of the school.

He is looking into additonal measures such as security cameras at major entryways that can be accessed remotely from the town’s police department.

Other features of the school include several community spaces, a high school-sized gymnasium and sports fields. An entrance to the school grounds will come from Hooksett Road, Bisson said.

Not much was said in the way of cost, which raised some questions from the audience, but Bisson assured them the building has been designed to meet the financial needs of both towns.

“At this point, we’re not getting into cost, we’re just talking about design. We’ve been asked to be very prudent with the design,” he said.

Within the next few weeks, he added, costs will be added to the discussion.

“The next three weeks is kind of like testing the waters. We want different perspectives, as many as we can,” Bisson said.

Porter agreed, saying that a meeting at the Village School on Oct. 18 will reveal cost projections for the plans.

Candia resident Herb Tardiff expressed concern that the gymnasium and cafeteria would not accomodate major increases in student population. “We need to look down the road 20, 30 and 40 years,” he said.

Bisson said the proposed designs leave much room for future improvements and additions to areas in the school, inlcuding the adjacent gym and cafeteria, should population growth warrant such action.

Tuition agreement

Porter presented the draft proposal for the new school’s tuition agreement, which Candia’s school board had already reviewed and made suggestions for at a meeting on Thursday, Sept. 6.

While total cost estimates for the school plans have yet to be revealed, breakdowns for what each town will pay comprise the tuition agreement draft.

“This is a time when we can make changes to things,” Porter said. The agreement, copies of which were distributed to audience members, covers both towns for an initial period of 20 years.

At 15 years into it, both towns will need to decide whether to extend the agreement for an additonal five years after the initial 20-year end. Every five years after that, board members will need to revisit the issue and either extend the agreement again or terminate it.

If Candia backs out of the agreement at any point, it will receive none of its money back.

If Auburn backs out, Candia will be reimbursed for “the depreciated value of its cumulative capital contributions,” a yearly payment calculated by taking the total money Candia paid and reducing it by 2.86 percent each year for 35 years, according to the agreement.

During the first year of the school’s opening, Candia will be responsible for 38 percent of the school’s total operating cost, which directly coincides with the percentage of Candia students who will attend the school.

Each year after that, Candia’s portion of the bill will adjust according to population.

The draft also states that the new school will be completely run by Auburn’s school district, and that “voters of the Auburn School District will retain ultimate authority in the governance of the Middle School.”

In an attempt to balance that, provisions are included in the draft to involve input from Candia residents. For example, Candia and Auburn school boards will meet at least once a year to discuss middle school issues and Candia School Board members will attend Auburn School Board meetings when topics involve the middle school.

An advisory committee composed of three middle school teachers, one parent from each town, one school board member from each town, an SAU 15 administrator and a middle school administrator will also be formed to report to the Auburn School Board on the middle school.

What about teachers?

The tuition agreement also includes information about supplying the school with teachers., an issue that raised a few eyebrows among Candia residents present at the meeting.

Kathleen Porter, vice chairman of Auburn’s school board, announced at the meeting that since the school is an Auburn school, run by Auburn’s school district and school board, middle school teachers currently
working in the Village School will automatically be moved to the new school.

Candia school teachers, she said, would not automatically be moved to the new school but would have first consideration in the interview process under the draft agreement.

Porter added she anticipated needing just about all of the Moore School’s sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade subject teachers.

Currently, there are 425 middle school students in Candia and Auburn combined. Judging from those numbers, speciality teachers – such as those teaching art, music and gym classes – may be out of jobs come the school’s anticipated opening in ****2010***, some residents pointed out. Porter did not dispute this at the meeting.

Candia resident Brian Beauchamp suggested that since the school will be split with students from both towns, a certain percentage of the teachers should come from Auburn and a certain percentage from Candia.

Porter said contractual obligations with their own teachers prevented ideas similar to Beauchamp’s from being considered.

“I’m just surprised the union’s not here representing them,” Beauchamp said, referring to Candia’s teachers. “I know you guys have to do what’s best with what you’re given to work with, but I just don’t think it’s fair.”

With teacher contract negotiations looming ahead, teachers in general have been tight-lipped about the issue.

Candia School Board member Ingrid Byrd said she expects that many Moore School teachers are worried about their futures, but added that with their contracts in flux, they may be hesitant to advocate for themselves when it comes time to apply to the new school.

“That might very well be a strike against that person being hired,” she said. “It’s a terrible uncertainty to face all year long. It’s got to be difficult for them.”

Passing the plans

None of these plans will be possible unless the warrant article passes with both towns at their School District Meetings in March.

“By the time we get to March, I want to be able to say this is as close a number as we can get,” Porter said.

The tuition agreement will go on Candia’s warrant at the election on Tuesday, March 11, and 51 percent of the votes are needed to pass it. Auburn will vote on the bond on Tuesday, March 14, provided the agreement passes in Candia.

More at Moore – Candia’s only school sees jump in enrollment

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 20:33:00 GMT

BY JENN MCDOWELL

Despite a slightly larger number of students, Candia’s Henry Moore School enjoyed a smooth first week, according to Principal Robert St. Cyr.

A total of 474 students reported for the first day of school on Monday, Aug. 27, up from last year’s first day total of 456, said St. Cyr.

That higher number, he said, is not yet indicative of a large increase in enrollment because it will likely fluctuate this month as students enter and leave the school district.

By law, schools have to report their enrollment totals to the state by October. By that time, St. Cyr said, the numbers will be more concrete.

“We’re moving along,” St. Cyr said, adding that faculty and staff have been preparing all summer for the extra kids.

St. Cyr said the first week of school went smoothly overall at Moore School, including the first fire drill of the year on Thursday, Aug. 30.

“It was the quietest, most efficient fire drill I’ve ever had the privilege of witnessing. The kids took it very seriously,” he said.

While the school may be a little more crowded this year, St. Cyr said class sizes has remained pretty constant compared to last year, ranging in size from 15 to 24 students.

That being said, St. Cyr said he is thrilled about the plans for the new Candia/Auburn middle school, a potential development that still has to pass through voters before coming to fruition.

“I am so excited for Auburn and Candia because I think, for this moment in time and the next 10, 15, even 20 years, it’s the best move that both towns could make,” St. Cyr said.

The opening of the new school would allow Moore School to change over to an elementary school, which St. Cyr believes would be beneficial to both the school itself and Candia and Auburn students.

Currently, students attend Moore School from kindergarten to eighth grade, then go straight into high school, most of them to Manchester Central, which St. Cyr believes deprives his students of a true middle school transition.

He pointed out that middle-school-age children go through some tough changes hormonally, socially and educationally, and they often get too comfortable at Moore School and experience culture shock upon entering high school.

“A middle school student is not a miniature high school student, and (the Candia/Auburn middle school) would offer another transition, which I think is very important,” he said.

If the school is built and Moore is transformed into a kindergarten-through-fifth grade facility, St. Cyr said there will be more resources and programs available to students at both schools.

The new middle school would also offer more complete music, sports and extracurricular programs to students, St. Cyr pointed out.

“Programmatically, we’ll be able to better use our space to meet the needs of students,” St. Cyr said.

Public forums to get input on the new school plans from Candia and Auburn residents will take place at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 11, and Tuesday, Sept. 25, both at the Auburn Village School.

Tae kwon do can-do – Participants take lessons into everyday lives

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 22:25:00 GMT

BY SAPNA PATHAK

Amy Nagel considers herself a perfectionist. Five years ago, however, it was not a personality trait she embraced, nor was it something she was proud of.

But that was years ago.

Now holding a black belt at the ATA Karate Center of New Hampshire, Nagel transformed the once-hindering trait into one she uses to her advantage. From June 18 to June 24, Nagel competed in the American Taekwondo Association World Championships in Little Rock, Ark.

“I wouldn’t even want to try something new unless I knew I could do it perfect,” said Nagel of trying tae kwon do in 2002. “That’s why I didn’t want to try tae kwon do, but then the whole family did it, so I gave it a shot. Before, wanting to be perfect was something that stopped me from doing things, but now it helps me.”

The Auburn native earned a silver medal in the women’s first degree black belt group, ranking her No. 2 in the world in the 17- to 24-year-old age division. She was joined by her father, Candia’s Dean Page, who won gold in the men’s first degree black belt group, earning him world champion status in the 40- to 49-year-old age division.

Before heading to the world championships, Nagel and Page competed at the New Hampshire state championships. There, they competed with fellow studio members.

Hooksett’s Nicholas Croteau won the boys first degree black belt title in forms and sparring in the 14- to 16-year-old age group; Hooksett’s Alexus Lamoreaux won the weapons title in the 11- to 13-year-old girls first degree black belt division; Mona Lamoreaux of Hooksett took home the forms, sparring and weapons triple crown title in the 40- to 49-year-old women’s color belts category; and David Lamoreaux earned the forms, sparring and weapons triple crown title in the 40- to 49-year-old men’s color belts division.

Others from ATA who won state titles were Shawn Davies, Alaina Amlaw, Rachael Paradis, Emma Conant, Janet Scarafile and Michael Snider.

Though Nagel and Page were the studio’s lone representatives in Little Rock, invited to compete among 25,000 people (PARTICIPANTS or ENTRANTS), they’re not the only locals involved in the sport.

Nagel’s mother, Valerie Page, and brother, Ben Page, are also black belts. Ben, 14, took home the forms and weapons state title in the boys second and third degree black belt division.

After spending the past three years training to be an instructor, Ben said the martial art also brought about a change in his personality, too.

“I used to be so shy and quiet,” said Ben. “But now I’m forced to use communication and people skills daily when I’m working with younger students. There’s a lot of positive reinforcement used in this sport. That atmosphere I learned in has helped me become a better instructor.”

The Candia family was introduced to the sport when Ben attended an open house hosted by John Burton, ATA Karate Center of New Hampshire studio owner and chief instructor, and Michael Snider, head instructor.

Soon after, Valerie and Dean signed the foursome up for classes. But it was off the mats they saw the greatest changes.

“We’re much closer as a family,” said Dean. “Initially, as a dad, people would say, ‘Aren’t you worried about the kids hurting each other?’ But they actually got along better because of the principles taught. It’s not just the physical stuff. It’s a lifestyle that’s focused on respect and courtesy.

“It helped take such different personalities and bring them together,” he continued. “Parents want punching and kicking and having their kids be able to defend themselves, but the life skills you learn … You can’t find those in the classroom.”

Joint middle school plan gets its first OK in Candia

Hooksett Editor — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 19:27:00 GMT

BY NICHOLAS BROWN

Candia residents, some reluctantly, voted to spend $91,791 for architectural and engineering studies for a middle school in neighboring Auburn.

The warrant article spurred most of the discussion at the town’s annual School District Meeting on Saturday, March 10, at Henry Moore School. About 160 people attended the district’s last traditional School District Meeting, now that voters approved a change to official ballot voting, or SB2, on Tuesday, March 13.

Voters also approved putting $150,000 in a capital reserve fund for the district’s facilities needs, $12,500 for a new computer replacement reserve fund and $10,000 for a fund designed to cover unanticipated repairs at Henry Moore School.

The school district’s operating budget proposal of $7,167,814, agreed upon by both the school board and the budget committee, passed almost unanimously without any questions from the public.

The star of the meeting was the $91,791 question, which ultimately passed 82-72 in a secret ballot vote. If Auburn voters pass a similar warrant article at their Friday, March 16, School District Meeting, the two school boards will commence with engineering and architectural plans with the firm Team Design, and will also work to hammer out a longterm tuition agreement to send Candia’s sixth- through eighth-grade students to the neighboring town.

The school, which would be owned and maintained by the Auburn School District, would sit on a 58-acre site near Route 101’s Exit 2.

Candia School Board Chairman Karen Smith said the design money will allow the school board to come back next year with solid numbers for Candia’s involvement a school proposal. That differs from cooperative school proposals the district has initiated in the past which have been criticized because financial impacts have been purely speculative, she said.

“We want to be able to give folks not even estimates, but exact numbers next year,” said Smith.

Several Candia residents spoke out against the plan, and said they could get stuck footing part of the bill for an Auburn school without having a say in the education of Candia’s students.

“We’re not going to own the building and we’re not going to own any of the land,” said planning board member Joe Duarte.

“If it was a true partnership, I would certainly be in favor of it.” Resident Dr. Richard Zang, who prefaced his statements by saying it’s “unconscionable” that Candia’s middle school students are confined to Moore School, questioned this plan because he said it doesn’t provide a longterm fix to a lingering problem.

“(Auburn) is going to kick us out. We just don’t know exactly when,” Zang said. “This is just a bad deal.”

Other residents suggested Candia’s history at School District Meetings suggests townspeople are reluctant to move forward with any plan, and said improving conditions for middle school students has been an unsolved mystery for years, even decades.

“We keep fiddling while Rome burns,” said Brian Smith. “The whole time the kids are suffering.”

Resident Dennis Ducharme said townspeople have a long history of squelching large school facilities proposals, and said losing some control to Auburn might not signal disaster.

“Do you think you’re giving control to a bunch of idiots and bumpkins?” Ducharme asked. “No. You’re giving control to a bunch of people who care about their kids just as much as we care about our kids.”

Auburn voters will be asked to support an additional $146,009 for design money. If their voters reject the expenditure, Candia won’t lose the $91,791.

School aid could leave towns short

Hooksett Editor — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 16:15:00 GMT

BY NICHOLAS BROWN

As the three branches of state government wrangle over how to best provide aid to public schools, local school administrators say they can do little but watch and wait.

“I could hypothesize a lot, but I think the reality here is that it’s a story in the making,” said Charles “Phil” Littlefield, superintendent of SAU 15, serving Hooksett, Auburn and Candia.

Littlefield, whose districts combined received nearly $5 million in state adequacy money last year, said school districts are stuck in a “twilight zone” as they wait to see how state aid may shake down this year.

He and SAU 53 Superintendent Tom Haley – the top administrator for six districts including Pembroke, Allenstown and Epsom – each said they used numbers provided late last year by the state Board of Education to project revenues in their school district budgets.

But a state budget plan recently announced by Gov. John Lynch would give districts a flat 5 percent hike in state aid in the next two years. That plan could dramatically lower the amount of revenue coming on to some districts districts, including Hooksett, Pembroke and Epsom.

Under that scenario, Hooksett would be out nearly $400,000 in revenue next fiscal year, and more than $550,000 state aid would evaporate in both Pembroke and Epsom. And with local budgets being largely inflexible as annual School District Meeting season is in full bloom, the shortfall would be made up through 2007-08 property taxes.

Lynch described the flat 5 percent hike as an “interim” solution to the school funding issue, which has divided the courts, the governor’s office and the Legislature for more than a decade.

He’s proposing a constitutional amendment to address state aid, and said he’s waiting for a definition of an “adequate education” before embracing the current funding law for next year.

“I do not believe we should put in place a new school funding formula until we have defined an adequate education and passed this constitutional amendment,” he said in a Feb. 15 budget address. “Nor do I believe we should simply go forward with the current law.”

The state Supreme Court has given the Legislature a June 30 deadline to define an “adequate education,” a move some state lawmakers have said exceeds the court’s authority.

“The big unknown we’re all dealing with right now is the June 30 deadline the Supreme Court has set,” said Littlefield.

The governor’s budget must also survive the Legislature.

“I just think there’s a lot of work to be done between now and June 30,” Littlefield said.

“From my point of view we’ll have to wait and see how this all unfolds.”

Haley said the timing of such political wrangling couldn’t be worse, especially as official ballot voting, or SB2, school district have already had their annual meetings.

“In most cases it’s not a catastrophic change,” Haley said of this year’s potential funding changes. “The issue, I think, is the uncertainty the voters may be feeling.”

He said districts like Pembroke, which has a traditional School District Meeting, may be better off since voters will still have the chance to question their school officials about the uncertainty of state aid.

“I think once people have a more complete picture,” he said, “they’re going to be a little less panicky.”

Littlefield stressed that the operational costs in his three school districts ultimately will come from some sort of taxation.

“I never look at state aid as free money that comes out of the clouds – it is coming out of the taxpayers pockets,” he said. “It’s not like when we say ‘state aid’ it’s coming from New York.”

He said he’s not concerned about voters being anxious because he said most voters are aware that all three districts put forth “pretty conservative budget recommendations.”

Auburn and Candia: 2006 Year in Review

Hooksett Editor — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 18:12:00 GMT

BY NICHOLAS BROWN

Auburn buys school land, mulls Candia partnership

The approved purchase of 58 acres of undeveloped land in Auburn brought hope to school officials who saw it as an opportunity to build a new school and alleviate overcrowding at Auburn Village School.

Voters overwhelmingly approved the $650,000 purchase at March’s annual School District Meeting. The land is off Route 101’s Exit 2.

The purchase prompted the Auburn School Board to discuss a new school partnership with the school board in neighboring Candia. Candia School Board members have maintained they want an agreement only if it’s long-term and provides the Candia board with some autonomy regarding the education of Candia students.

The two boards have been talking seriously since October about ironing out some sort of long-term tuition agreement for a potential new middle school, though Auburn officials haven’t committed to what grades they hope to move to the new site.

Auburn school officials have said they hope to present voters at the 2007 School District Meeting with a proposal for school planning and design money.

Candia’s school board has said it would be willing to contribute to planning for a school, if it gets positive reactions about a potential school partnership from Candia residents.

Soldier returns for Candia Old Home Day

Candia’s annual Old Home Day, though hampered by some extremely soggy September weather, turned largely into a welcome home party for a soldier injured in Iraq.

Signs lined Candia’s streets leading up to the event welcoming home Marine Lance Cpl. Louis “Louie” Stamatelos Jr. Stamatelos, 21, was shot once through the right shoulder while standing guard at the Iraqi city of Kharma.

More than 50 people greeted Stamatelos at the Manchester- Boston Regional Airport on the evening before Old Home Day. Stamatelos, a graduate of Candia’s Jesse Remington High School, lost use of his right arm. Before his return, Stamatelos was transferred to hospitals both in Iraq and America.

Stamatelos, who had two grandfathers serve in the military, said he’s always wanted to join the armed forces.

During the Old Home Day parade, Stamatelos sat with his 6-year-old sister, Audrey, who was perched on his lap inside a Candia fire engine. People cheered Stamatelos as he and his sister passed down High Street.

Auburn speaks up

Auburn residents were given a rare forum to voice their wishes for the future of the small town.

On Nov. 4, about 75 people came to an all-day event, titled “Speak Up Auburn,” at the Auburn Village School. Controlling growth, solving a school space crunch keeping property taxes manageable and getting more responsive town leadership were four of the most discussed topics of the day.

The event was led by the New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, which will return to the town with a written “community profile” based on the day’s discussions.

The event’s organizers said that community profile will aid the town as it embarks on revisions of its master plan and Capital Improvements Program. Many people at the event said they were discouraged because more people – including many of the volunteers on the town’s boards and committee’s – didn’t attend.

Together at last? Candia, Auburn again consider joint school

Hooksett Editor — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 21:43:00 GMT

By Nicholas Brown
Staff Writer

School officials from Auburn and Candia representing similarly sized school districts with similarly crumbling facilities are considering forging a joint maintenance agreement for a new middle school.

The discussion was initiated by the Auburn School Board, which is currently mulling new school options for a $686,000, 58-acre property near Route 101, purchased in July.

A middle school collaboration with Candia is one of several options the board has considered, its members said.

“From an educational perspective and from a financial perspective, this seems advantageous,” said Auburn School Board Vice Chairman Kathleen Porter.

But Porter said the two boards are nowhere near ready to sign off on a deal.

“The worst thing do would be to move this thing along too quickly,” she said.

The two boards plan to meet with their mutual attorney, not to begin negotiations, only to investigate the possibility of a joint maintenance agreement, officials from both sides said.

“Their attorney is going to be there, but I think it’s going to be more of an instructional meeting,” said SAU 15 Superintendent Phil Littlefield. SAU 15 is the central administrative office for the school districts of Auburn, Candia and Hooksett.

Auburn and Candia have tried to negotiate collaborative school arrangements in the past.

Years ago, the two districts joined with Deerfield and Fremont to ponder a cooperative school, remembered Candia School Board Chairman Karen Smith. That plan fizzled, as did a previous effort at a cooperative between Hooksett, Auburn and Candia.

“The whole notion of getting together with other towns has been around with us and Auburn for a long time,” Smith said.

Shortly after Auburn approved the purchase of the new school property at this year’s March School District Meeting, the Auburn board sent a letter to Candia asking if their board would be interested in a tuition agreement.

Smith said the Candia board wasn’t interested in a tuition pact because it was looking for more long-term solutions for the town’s kindergarten through eighth-grade students.

“We would like to have some sort of voice, some sort of say, in the operation of the school,” said Smith. “We would very much like to feel it’s a collaborative kind of relationship.”

She said that type of involvement hasn’t been possible with Candia’s current tuition agreement by which it sends its high school students to Manchester.

“Even though the contract says we have some say and some control,” Smith said, “effectively we don’t.”

Joint maintenance agreements aren’t as popular throughout New Hampshire as tuition agreements as in Auburn and Candia’s high school deal and cooperative arrangements.

Cooperatives require multiple years of School District Meeting approvals to be established, and require a separate school board made up of representatives from each of the sending towns.

The two boards were to meet on Wednesday, Oct. 4, at Auburn Village School.