Pembroke’s tax rate should decrease slightly even though voters approved everything on the warrant at the School District Meeting Saturday, March 10.

Energy retrofit

Voters gave the OK to a plan to retrofit Pembroke’s schools to become more energy efficient. Warrant Article 7 required the town to approve an almost $3 million, 15-year plan for renovations and improvements at Pembroke Academy and Hill School.

School board member Gerard Fleury explained the plan, saying there appears to be no down side to it.

“The beauty of this program is that by partnering with Honeywell, we end up taking a loan that’s funded from what we pay,” he said.

Honeywell will replace items like single-pane glass windows, the thin roof on Hill School and other inefficient systems. Fleury said Honeywell has a proven track record, having done similar programs in Concord and Berlin.

Costs will be covered not by a loan, but by the savings generated by the renovations, as well as an expected 40 to 53 percent state building aid. The budget committee was concerned about those costs being paid back, but chairman David Freeman-Woolpert said they were satisfied it was a good plan.

“We looked at this in terms of risk and benefit,” he said. “We’re talking about improvements at the school that need to be done. We’re talking about the most successful company in doing this. We need to do this work.”

Teacher contract, tech. ed.

A three-year agreement between the school district and the Education Association of Pembroke passed unanimously, as did an agreement to continue the vocational/technical education agreement with Concord High School.

Athletic programs

Warrant articles 8 and 9 to partially fund Pembroke Academy’s alpine ski program and lacrosse program generated some discussion. Residents were concerned about the programs becoming part of the operating budget, but were assured fundraising to offset those costs would continue.

Other warrants

The district will operate on a budget of $20,566,258. Also approved were $50,000 each to be moved from surplus to capital reserve funds for school buildings and equipment; $53,200 to be taken from a capital reserve fund for installing security entrances at Hill School and Pembroke Academy, replacing carpet, installing a classroom wall at Hill School and a sink at Three Rivers School.