West Canaan
The $27.5 million budget was defeated, 909-843, meaning the Mascoma Valley Regional School District will operate on a default budget of $27.2 million during the 2017-18 school year.
Enfield and Orange were the only towns to support the budget, with Enfield voting, 367-216, in favor and Orange voting, 44-42. The budget faced its biggest defeat in Canaan, where residents voted, 424-293, against the proposal. In Grafton it was defeated, 159-108, and Dorchester voted it down by a 68-31 tally.
The district is running on a default budget after a 1,000-752 vote defeated the budget proposal last year.
In other voting on Tuesday, voters approved a three-year collective bargaining agreement with the Mascoma Valley Regional Education Association. The teachers contract passed, 932-869. Once again, Enfield and Orange were the only two towns to vote in support. The contract calls for an additional $275,436 in spending for the 2017-18 school year, followed by a $252,917 increase in 2018-19 and $249,447 in its final year.
Voters also overwhelmingly approved the creation of a committee to study how the district allocates taxes to Mascoma towns. Residents voted, 1,094-679, to form the group, which will report back no later than Oct. 1.
In a contested School Board race from Grafton, incumbent Brewster Gove garnered 794 votes to defeat challenger David Tupper Jr., who received 596 votes.
School Board members Cookie Hebert, of Dorchester, and Kathleen Stacy, of Orange, ran unopposed for three-year seats.