Sabattus voters looking for lower school spending

SunJournal.com, Thursday, June 12, 2008

SABATTUS - Sabattus voters who said no to a school budget wanted less spent, according to their vote.

The town asked those who voted no if they did so because they wanted the budget increased or decreased. Those who wanted more numbered 28; those who wanted less numbered 261, Town Clerk Suzanne Adams said Wednesday.

The vote tells the town budget committee "they need to work on the numbers to bring them down," Adams said.

But the overall vote was close: 261 said yes to the school budget, 264 said no.

The three-vote difference has some calling for a recount, Adams said.

School board member Gary Blais said he didn't have a take on why the $6.12 million budget for grades K-8 was rejected. He was waiting to hear official results.

"What concerns me the most is the lack of turnout," Blais said. "We had about 526 people turn out out of about 3,000 voters." That contributed to the budget being rejected, he said. "Had the parents of children turned out to vote it may have gone another way."

Those who did show up to vote were mostly "an older crowd, people on fixed incomes," Adams said.

Efforts to reach Union 44 Superintendent Susan Hodgdon on Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Sabattus Elementary School Principal Beverly Coursey said she was disappointed by the vote.

"I was hoping it would go through." The school board worked hard to keep costs down, Coursey said. Overall, the budget went up 2 percent, including money for higher fuel costs and salaries. "And the cost to local taxpayers went down," Coursey said.

Given that this was the first time the school budget had to be approved in a referendum, Coursey said she wasn't sure what to expect. "This is a new process."

The budget was a good compromise to keep taxpayers costs down but still give schools what they need, she said. It reduced one position and cut books. Money in the budget "was absolutely needed" by schools, Coursey said.

When the next town meeting and referendum is held, voter turnout will likely be higher, said Adams.