Weare deliberative session sets March ballot: $20.45M operating budget, para contract, three petition articles

Neil Kirk was elected pro tempore moderator, the board named a new student-services hire and the district set several warrant articles for the March ballot during the Weare School District deliberative session on Feb. 5, 2025.

The school board presented a proposed operating budget of $20,449,303 for fiscal 2025–26 and reviewed the default budget calculation of $20,469,757. The business administrator, Chris Roy, said the difference between the proposed and default budgets is $20,454 and explained that the proposed budget includes a newly negotiated five‑year transportation contract with Student Transportation of America (STA) that reduces first‑year costs by eliminating one route (going from 12 to 11 routes). Roy and other speakers warned the default calculation does not include the new STA contract and that, if the default passes instead of the proposed budget, the district would face about a $10,000 shortfall in the first year while the older contract basis remains in effect.

The Weare Finance Committee, represented by chairman Tom Flaherty, recommended a no vote on the proposed operating budget by an 8–2 margin; Flaherty said the committee believes the district should do more to reduce operating costs in light of a reduction in state aid. "The Weare Finance Committee on Article 3 voted to not recommend the proposed budget by a vote of 8 to 2," Flaherty told the meeting.

Article 4 on the warrant would authorize cost items in a collective bargaining agreement with paraprofessional staff, to be funded in addition to the operating budget. School officials and union representatives…