2009 Grantham, NH school budget reduced at district meeting, 3/18/09

[jp1...@gmail.com]

Well, I guess I should have checked my email last night urging me to
go and vote. At last night's (3/18/09) Grantham School District
meeting, an amendment to reduce the budget by $262k was introduced and
subsequently passed. According to school board members, this is going
to have a negative impact on the school. I hope we don't see fewer
teachers roaming the halls of Grantham Village School next year.

Regarding the budget increase, it was due in large part to the school
addition and tuition increases. I'll admit I don't fully understand
the rest of the increase and that rising taxes are difficult to
afford. My main concern lies in the fact that in one meeting, using
the "now or never" propose/discuss/vote/pass arrangement of annual
meetings, Grantham citizens weren't given a chance to understand or
consider the true ramifications. Are there other town services we
could reduce or eliminate before reducing education funding? Can we
aim for a flat budget, but consider town and school budgets together?
According to CNNMoney.com, NH has the 2nd best tax rate as a percent
of income in the US. We must be managing something right.

"In times like these..." is a phrase often invoked during hard
economic times. It's a phrase used to justify spending cuts. And for
good reason, some people can't afford tax increases. However, people
have to sacrifice services for low taxes and I'm not ready to
sacrifice education funding. Let's hope there are expenses to cut in
the district without losing teachers.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/pf/0704/gallery.tax_friendliest/8.html