Weare residents will decide whether to approve a $13 million school operating budget on the warrant March 10. Two proposed amendments to decrease the proposed bottom line were both rejected at the deliberative session of Weare School District Meeting on Feb. 2 at Weare Middle School.

About 40 residents attended that meeting for the Weare School District, which includes both Weare Middle and Center Woods Elementary schools.

Several residents spoke out against the 2.75 percent budget increase that would fund proposals to add a foreign language teacher and a health teacher at Weare Middle School.

Resident Melissa Caswell, conceding the economy is in dire straits, urged fellow attendees to consider that Weare children deserve these extra teaching positions.

“Last year, we voted down a budget and our children lost very important things,” Caswell said. “I don’t want to see that happen again. We need to be their advocates.”

Other articles that will appear on the warrant include proposals to contribute up to $25,000 in surplus funds to three separate accounts that would reserve money for building and grounds upkeep as well as unforeseen special education costs.

The deliberative session for the John Stark Regional High School district, which includes students from both Weare and Henniker, took place Feb. 3.

About 30 voters from both towns turned out to endorse John Stark Regional High School’s proposed $13.5 million operating budget for the 2009-10 school year.

Voters from both towns will decide March 10 whether or not to accept the budget as proposed or opt for a default of $13.3 million.

The bottom line of the proposed budget represents about an 8.2 percent increase over the current year’s operating budget.

An amendment by state represenative Neal Kurk to reduce the proposed budget by more that $1 million was rejected.

“People in this state, people in this country and people in these two towns are very nervous,” said Kurk, a Weare resident and a member of the House finance committee.

“I recognize you have a responsibility to the students in this district, but you also have a responsibility to the taxpayers,” Kurk told School Board members before his amendment was voted down. “It requires a balance. I think you’ve forgotten that balance.”