by Angie Cardinal
The Deliberative Session consists of explanation, discussion and debate on each article contained in the School District warrant. Non-voters may attend and seek permission to speak. Voters may amend a warrant article, subject to certain limitations: an amendment may not add a new subject to an article, an amendment may not change wording that is prescribed by law, and an amendment may not eliminate the subject matter of an article (such as inserting the word "not" thereby making the article meaningless).
The voters at the Deliberative Session may change the School District operating budget as long as the amendment does not increase the appropriation recommended by the town budget committee by more than 10%.
At Friday night's Budget Committee Public Hearing, it was obvious that at least two of the members' only concern was reducing the tax rate and that's their prerogative. The public commenters shared their serious concerns about cutting the School Budget too much for the schools to be successful and continue to improve as they have over the past few years. The budget committee kept the unknown health insurance savings in the budget for the school board to figure out on their own. We will have to wait for official information to be released before I can tell you exactly what decisions were made because I couldn't stay at the hearing past an hour and a half. If any readers stayed through the end and would like to provide input, please comment below or email me. Here is the article written by Dave Andreeson on fosters.com with some information.
We know now that we have to step up our role as responsible residents at the Deliberative Session on January 30, 2016 at 9:00 AM in the Farmington High School gymnasium. If you are already a registered voter in the town of Farmington, you are all set to participate at the Deliberative Session. If you are not registered to vote or are unsure if you are, you may easily confirm/register on January 19th from 7:00 - 7:30 PM at the Farmington Municipal Office located at 356 Main St. Just bring your ID, please. If you can't make it on January 19th, simply call 755-3657 as soon as possible to discuss your options.
Reference: RSA 32:18; RSA 39:2; RSA 40:13
