Charlotte votes down school budget again

Over 100 people attended the Charlotte special town meeting on June 27 to revote on the school budget that had previously been rejected at the annual town meeting on May 25. The budget then had been reconsidered by the school board and ended up being trimmed by nearly $25,000.
Michael Lawson asked that the articles be voted on by written ballot, and it was voted to do so. Residents then passed Articles 2 through 6 to expend money for regular education, special education, career and technical education, other instruction and student and staff support. Since it had then taken over an hour to do the voting, Edward Sawyer asked if Articles 7 through 12 could be voted on as a single item, and residents voted to do so. After the ballots were counted, there was a tie of 49-49. Another vote was called, and that vote was 47 yes and 51 no.
The school budget now will be revised by the school board at a meeting set for Monday, July 17, at 7 p.m. at the school. Another special town meeting will be announced when the articles are once again presented to be placed on a warrant.
With the state subsidy being reduced by nearly $160,000 this coming year, the local share for the school budget initially would have increased by just over $133,000, before the $25,000 reduction in the budget.
During the meeting, Superintendent Kenneth Johnson asked if he could speak, and it was voted for him to do so. Johnson explained that by law there has to be a budget for operating the school. The budget will be presented again, and if school starts for the new school year and the budget has not been approved, it will operate on the previous year's budget. He stated that the town has to pay to educate the students, teachers have to be paid and there are some items in the budget that cannot be ignored, like special education and transportation.
The meeting lasted approximately two hours.