MINUTES OF THE
DRESDEN SCHOOL DISTRICT ANNUAL MEETING
HANOVER HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM
FEBRUARY 26 AND MARCH , 2005
Moderator Thomas Csatari called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 26, 2005. Present were School Board members Kari Asmus, Nancy Carter, John Cassidy, Margaret Cheney, John Chamberlin, Dennis Goodman, Linda Gray, Deb Kaplan, Mary Sachsse, Anne Segal, Geoffrey Vitt; Administrators John Aubin, Jane Weissmann, Susan Finer, Jonathan Brush; School District Attorney David Bradley; and approximately 45 members of the public.
Moderator Csatari read the Warning and noted that the Warrant was duly posted in both states, in New Hampshire and Vermont, and that the returns of service were duly notarized. He then recognized Dresden School Board Chair Margaret Cheney who introduced the members of the Dresden School Board, Administration, and Legal Counsel.
Moderator Csatari reviewed the structure of the Dresden School District and District meeting process, explaining that this is the discussion phase of the meeting, and the voting phase will take place on Tuesday, March 1, from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. in Tracy Hall in Norwich and Richmond Gymnasium in Hanover.
After Mr. Csatari reviewed the guidelines for the meeting, the business of the meeting then followed.
ARTICLE 1: To elect by written ballot for one-year terms a Moderator, a Clerk, and a Treasurer; and an auditor for a three-year term.
Moderator Csatari read the names of the candidate for each position.
No public comment was offered.
ARTICLE 2: Shall the District raise and appropriate $25,000 to be placed in the expendable trust fund known as the School Building Maintenance Fund?
Nancy Carter reported the current balance in the Maintenance Fund of $224,205. She said if this article passes it will raise the balance in the Fund to approximately $250,000.
Irv Thomae, a member of the Dresden Finance Committee clarified that this amount of money was not included in the budget figure and therefore, if passed, would be added to the bottom line of the budget. He then changed his Finance Committee vote from for to against endorsing the budget.
ARTICLE 3: Shall the District raise and appropriate the sum of $25,000 to establish a contingency fund to meet the cost of unanticipated expenses that may arise during the year?
Anne Segal said the purpose of this contingency fund is to meet any unexpected costs to the District which might occur during the year. She said that this $25,000 was already included in the budget figures.
No public comments were offered.
ARTICLE 4: Shall the District determine and fix the salaries of School District officers as follows: School Board members $700 per member; School District Treasurer $2,100; School District Clerk $150; and School District Moderator $150 in accordance with Article V-A of the NH/VT Interstate School Compact, and further to raise and appropriate the amount of Ten Thousand One Hundred Dollars ($10,100) to fund these salaries?
John Chamberlin discussed the process by which the salary figure for the Board was reached and said that failure to pass this article would mean that a special meeting would need to be called in order to pay the School District Officers.
No public comments were offered.
ARTICLE 5: Shall the District approve the transfer to the Town of Hanover of the title to a strip of land about 180 feet long and 18 feet wide (at its widest point) along Hovey Lane at the west end of the high school soccer field for right-of-way purposes and thereby allow the District to use the strip of land for parking without violating the prohibition in Section 210.1B.(2) of the Zoning Ordinance against parking in the front yard setback?
Kari Asmus explained that passage of this article is a Hanover Zoning Board condition of approval for the renovation project. Transfer of this strip of land would bring the District into compliance with the Town of Hanover’s zoning ordnance.
Several members of the public, most of them residents of the neighborhood abutting this strip of land, spoke against passage of the article citing several concerns about the effects to the neighborhood.
ARTICLE 6. Shall the District vote to approve the cost items in the three year collective bargaining agreement reached between the Dresden School Board and the Hanover Support Staff, NEA-NH, which calls for the following increases in support staff salaries and benefits:
Year Estimated Increase
2005-2006 $ 80,033
2006-2007 $103,227
2007-2008 $111,527
and further, shall the District raise and appropriate the sum of Eighty-Thousand Thirty-Three Dollars ($ 80,033), such sum representing the estimated increase in support staff salaries and benefits for the 2005-06 fiscal year brought about by this collective bargaining agreement?
NOTE 1. The sum necessary to pay the so-called status quo salaries and benefits for support staff if this article is defeated is included in the operating budget in Article 7.
NOTE 2. A favorable vote on this article shall be considered the approval of the cost items in all three years of the proposed collective bargaining agreement.
Linda Gray presented the article by reviewing the proposed contract. She highlighted comparisons with other districts and stressed the need to hire and retain qualified staff.
One member of the public asked a clarifying question.
ARTICLE 7. Shall the District raise and appropriate the amount of Eighteen Million, Five Hundred Seventy-Nine Thousand, Three-Hundred-Seventy-Five Dollars ($18,579,375), for the support of schools, for the payment of salaries for the teachers and other school employees, school district officials, and agents, and for the payment of the statutory obligations of the District for the 2005-2006 fiscal year? This sum does not include the sums appropriated in any of the preceding articles.
Mary Sachsse presented an overview of the budget which included a review of the budget process, budget guidelines, expenditure summary, significant changes to the budget, revenue sources, and the Norwich School District tax impact. Kari Asmus spoke to the Hanover School District tax impact. The total budget amount of $18,694,508 represents a 6.82 % increase.
Athos Rassias, representing the Dresden Finance Committee, reported that the Committee voted 7 to 4 to support the budget, subject to an evaluation of all parts of the budget and urged the Board to continue a discussion of the issues raised by this budget.
Several members of the public asked clarifying questions and expressed their concerns.
ARTICLE 8. Shall the name Hanover High School be changed, beginning with the 2006-07 academic year, to Dresden High School? (Submitted by petition article. The vote is non-binding)
Alison May, author of the petitioned article, explained her reasons for bringing this petitioned article to the voters saying that she believes it is a way to bring Hanover and Norwich together.
Members of the public expressed concern that the name change would confuse many colleges, as Hanover High School has name recognition, and that it might take several years to adapt to the name change. Others spoke in support of the proposed change.
ARTICLE 9: Shall the District direct the Dresden School board, the members of the Vermont Legislature representing Norwich, the members of the New Hampshire Legislature representing Hanover, and the respective Congressional Representatives to promptly introduce legislation to amend the New Hampshire-Vermont Interstate School Compact to permit a 60% majority requirement for the passage of notes or bonds? (Submitted by petition article)
The author of the petitioned article did not come forward to speak to the article; however, Dresden Board member Linda Gray commented that the School Board was not taking a position on the article and briefly reviewed the process to amend the Compact should the article pass.
Three members of the public expressed their opinions on the article.
ARTICLE 10: To transact any other business that may legally come before this meeting.
Geoffrey Vitt thanked retiring Board member Anne Segal for her many years of hard work and dedication to the Dresden and Hanover School Boards.
Moderator Csatari thanked everyone and declared the meeting adjourned at 3:30 p.m.
Results of Australian Balloting on March 1, 2005
Article 1 (Record of Election of Officers)
Moderator: Thomas Csatari
Clerk: Deborah Carter
Treasurer: Joan Collison
District Auditor: Judson Pierson
Article 2 (Appropriate $25,000 for the School Building Maintenance Fund)
Yes: 1277 No: 527 Blanks: 68
Article 3 (Appropriate $25,000 for the Contingency Fund)
Yes: 1199 No: 598 Blanks: 75
Article 4 (Establish Salaries of School District Officers)
Yes: 1230 No: 556 Blanks: 86
Article 5 (Hovey Lane)
Yes: 1064 No: 722 Blanks: 85
Article 6 (Support Staff settlement)
Yes: 1023 No: 712 Blanks: 137
Article 7 (Budget)
Yes: 1065 No: 710 Blanks: 97
Article 8 (Name change - petitioned article)
Yes: 485 No: 1294 Blanks: 93
Article 9 (60% majority - petitioned article)
Yes: 979 No: 669 Blanks: 224
I hereby certify this to be a true and accurate report of the proceedings of the meeting of February 26, 2005 and results of voting held on March 1, 2005.
Respectfully submitted,
Deborah M. Carter
District Clerk
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