BY MATT HERSH
Salem voters have approved the school district’s $49,849,647 budget and more than $1 million in additional warrant articles.
Despite public criticism of the district’s budget by some members of the public, voters passed it by a 1,824-1,234 margin.
“Obviously, I’m grateful to the voters of Salem who supported the school board’s initiatives,” said school board Chairman Bernard Campbell shortly after the results were announced. “We have a lot of work to do this year.”
The school district’s expenditures drew a lot of attention during the voting season because with the passing of every article, Salem residents will see an 8.3 percent increase in their school tax bills this year.
The school tax will be $8 per $1,000 of assessed property value. A home valued at $250,000 will receive a tax bill of $2,000.
Superintendent Michael Delahanty said most of this year’s tax increase was caused by the rising cost of special education and retirement.
Due to several special needs students who require out-of-district placement, the school district will pay $656,228 this year.
Delahanty said the district was responsible for providing these students with the best possible education but were unable to do so in Salem.
Still, resident Stephen Campbell and others criticized school officials for not cutting back in other areas when they received the news about special education costs.
Though Campbell led an effort to stop the district from restoring $125,000 to the budget at their Feb. 8 deliberative session to fund a new technology position and teacher training sessions, most of the room was not swayed.
Upon hearing the results, Campbell said he wasn’t upset and the voters had spoken their minds.
“The voters get to decide and that’s what a democracy is all about,” he said. “Had the turnout been bigger, that might have been different.”
Also approved by a 2,109-934 vote was the district’s $394,604 capital improvement plan, which will address facility issues identified in a 2005 audit. The money will go toward repairing heating pipes, masonry, boiler tubing, doors and other needs at the district’s schools.
Voters also granted approval to give raises to teachers, secretaries, custodians, food service personnel, and aides. The raises are all part of multi-year collective bargaining agreements and range from 2.5 to 3.5 percent.
Bernard Campbell said while he’s happy with the clean sweep of the ballot, there is still a lot of work to do in the future which will require continued cooperation with the town’s budget committee.
“It’s very important that we continue to work with the budget committee to secure their positive approval of our initiatives,” he said.
Of the 11 warrant articles put forth by the school board, all but one received budget committee recommendation. The one that didn’t, a request to add $30,000 to an emergency fund, only passed by 38 votes.