By Jodi Wolfe
Staff Writer

Voters deliberated for almost two and half hours on four warrant articles, including a $6 million school bond, but did not make any changes to the articles.

The residents who attended the deliberative session of the Epsom School District Meeting were concerned that tax increases were not listed on the four warrant articles as they have been in the past and voted to change that.

The school board will amend those articles to include how much each article will increase the tax rate this year.

The bond proposal article will also include the second and the 10th year of the bond. School officials were unable to produce some of the figures during the Thursday, Feb. 10, meeting, but they will be on the March ballot.

Bond proposal
Voters were also concerned about the wording of the bond proposal, which asks taxpayers to raise $6,782,535 for renovations and an addition to Epsom Central School, the district’s only school, which houses kindergarten to eighth grade.

The article also asks voters for $172,956 for the interest on the first bond payment.

Larry Yeaton, resident and budget committee member, said he didn’t like the wording of the article. If the taxpayers have to pay an additional $172,956, the warrant article should read that it will cost taxpayers a total of $6.9 million.

David Dziura, assistant superintendent for SAU 53, pointed out that the $172,965 is the interest to pay for the bond and is not part of the project costs. The bond itself would not be paid for until the second year of the 10-year bond.v The actual cost of construction and financing for the project is $8,478,399.07, but the state will reimburse Epsom $2,713,034.

Therefore the taxpayers of the school district will have to pay just $5,736,355.07 over the 10- year bond period, said Dziura.

The project includes eight new classrooms, a new cafeteria, an expanded library, parking improvements and adequate space for students with special needs.

“People need to realize that we’re running out of room now,” said resident Cerina Yeaton, who has two children in the school.

To show voters the existing conditions at Epsom Central School, the school will offer hourly tours on Thursday, Feb. 24, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m.

The last addition to the 50- year-old school was built in 1992. At that time, state aid reimbursement was only 30 percent, the highest payment by taxpayers was $3.03 per $1,000 of property value, and the last payment was $2.10 per $1,000, said Frank Catanese, chairman of the school building committee.

With this proposal, the school district will get 40 percent reimbursement from the state, the highest payment by taxpayers is expected to increase by $3.89 in the highest year and $2.34 in the last year of the bond, said Catanese. The tax rate would increase by 96 cents next year if the bond passes. He said this a good price for a conservative plan.

“The state picking up 40 percent is quite a savings,” said Catanese. “It’s very unlikely that, if we don’t do something this year, we are going to come back with something scaled back.”

Resident Thomas Moroney was concerned about the school enrollment figures the building committee used to create the proposal.

While the school committee is saying that the school is overcrowded, Moroney said his idea of crowded is different because he is from New York.v While living in New York, Moroney saw a brand new middle school constructed and then closed down five years later because there weren’t enough students to attend.

After consulting the school master report, Moroney found that the number of students expected for the next 10 years is 620. When he spoke with Thomas Duffy, a senior planner at the New Hampshire Office of Energy and Planning, Moroney was told the number of students would decrease in 10 years.

“What I’ve requested continuously is that we hire a demographics expert,” Moroney said. “The other part of this I don’t understand is the number of students has changed since the bond hearing.”

At the January bond hearing, the committee said the addition would give students a capacity of 725 students. At the deliberative session, Catanese told voters the addition would give the school a capacity of 620 to 680 students, depending on how many students are in each classroom.v The 725 capacity number was part of the architect’s original design, said Dziura. That number represents the sewer capacity for all the occupants of the building, including students and staff, he said.

“I don’t think this project should go forward until there is a good study done,” Moroney said.

While on the subject of space in schools, resident Sherry Yeaton noted that Pembroke Academy will soon need to be renovated.v “There will be a high school issue down the road,” agreed Don Harty, former chairman of the school board, who participated in meetings regarding the future of Pembroke Academy with representatives from the Allenstown, Chichester and Pembroke school districts, which also send students to Pembroke Academy.

Budget up 15 percent
The proposed $6,846,918 budget is 15 percent higher than last year’s operating budget of $5,948,420. The increase includes the expiration of grants, new sixth-grade science textbooks, a new special education case manager, and the costs of sending three special education students to summer placements, said school board member Andrew Turnball.

In creating last year’s budget, the school board underestimated the number of schools attending Pembroke Academy by 12 students, or $84,000. This year, the board has budgeted for 249 students, including other Epsom students who may not have come from Epsom Central.

Support staff raises
The third warrant article will ask voters for $12,289 for a contract for the Epsom Support Staff Association. The $12,289 is a 3.5 percent raise in wages and benefits for 26 employees.

The Epsom Support Staff Association was formed last March and went into negotiations with the school board last fall. Due to the short amount of time for negotiations, the two groups were only able to come up with a one-year contract. After the March vote, the school board and support staff will meet again to start negations for a three-year contract to be brought to voters in March 2006.

Deficit
Due to the increases in high school students attending Pembroke Academy and special education students, the school district is in deficit.

To make up for the deficit, a warrant article will ask voters for $72,071. The $72,071 is not the total amount of the deficit; the rest has been made up by making other cuts, said school board Chairman Timothy Riel.

“If this article is voted down, this is a huge problem for us,” Riel said.

This could lead to teacher layoffs and ending the school year early, he said.

Sherry Yeaton asked if the town could budget for a higher number of high school students.