Committee votes no to district-wide town meeting
By Caitlyn Kelleher JOURNAL REPORTER

Ashburnham-Westminster regional School Committee members took less than 10 minutes on Wednesday, Aug. 15, to decide they would not seek additional funding at a district-wide town meeting after the failed override night before.

School Committee Chairman David Christianson started the meeting on Wednesday night by stating that the goal of the meeting was to conduct business.

"We really need to get ready to open schools," he said.

The committee recertified a budget of $26,656,430, which is $1.2 million less than the budget the committee originally certified in March. The committee lost a first override attempt in June and then a second and lower request on Aug. 14.

"It is what it is at this point," Leonard Beaton, a school committee ember, said.

The committee has decided that the cuts will come from eliminating 32 staff positions - they received their notification in June - 50 percent of the co-curricular budget, the computer lease program, the curriculum renewal cycle funding and professional development funding.

The committee interprets the state regional school funding law as allowing the school committee to call a district-wide town meeting to determine if they could get support for additional funding. But committee members decided not to go down that path.

"I, for one, say the vote was telling enough," Christianson said.

The school committee's newly certified budget does not reflect the more than $92,000 that Ashburnham appropriated at their Annual Town Meeting in May above their 48 percent contribution.

If Westminster does not appropriate a corresponding amount, just over $112,000 then the school district can not access the money appropriated by Ashburnham.

If the school does not spend the money it will revert to the town's general fund at the end of the fiscal year and selectmen can determine how to use the money as part of the town's FY09 budget.

Westminster Selectmen have not discussed appropriating that money but Chairman John Fairbanks said he does not think the board would be interested in doing that. If the school committee wants to appropriate additional money on a continuous basis then Fairbanks said on override would be needed.

"I'm not sure we have to be told no a third time," he said.

Fairbanks said he isn't sure the selectmen would want to appropriate it with an money available to the town at a town meeting this fall.