Voting on the Newport school warrant is Tuesday, March 14, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Newport Opera House
Newport
If voters pass the $17.7 million proposed budget at the annual school meeting vote on March 14, Newport teachers and support staff will see pay increases next year.
But if the spending plan fails and the default budget is implemented, no salary increases will be awarded. The tax rate increase of $1.98 per $1,000 of assessed valuation is the same for both budgets.
The one-year teachers’ contract proposes an increase of $223,000, with a $1,240 pay raise for each union member plus what the school district has termed “expanded and increased loyalty payments” that are based on years of service and vary by employee. The support staff contract for paraprofessionals and administrative assistants provides a two-level salary scale with wage increases for the 67 members of the union.
The budget also includes two new elementary teaching positions, a new paraprofessional position and a new middle high school unified arts teacher.
The budget represents a $436,000 or 2.5 percent increase from the current year. About 60 percent of the increase is for insurance and retirement. The School Board cut operations and management expenses by $125,000 to help offset increases in regular and special programs.
On the revenue side, Newport’s stabilization grant from the state is down $147,000, contributing to the tax rate increase. The district plans to use $225,000 from a projected surplus at the end of this school year to keep the tax increase at $1.98.
Also on the warrant are three appropriations totaling $300,000. Two would place $50,000 each in separate reserve funds, while a third seeks $200,000 for a behavior support program at the elementary school, with most of the money for personnel.
“The three warrant articles, if adopted, would be financed through possible additional available fund balances,” Superintendent Cindy Gallagher said in an email. “If approved, these articles will be prioritized among other important considerations; if not, the available fund balance will be returned to the community at the end of the year.”
If all spending is approved, the projected tax rate would add $300 in school taxes on a property assessed at $150,000.
Hoping to win support for the budget, School Board member Virginia Irwin told voters at the deliberative session to think, not about the tax impact of the budget, but what that investment will yield for Newport’s students.
“We are investing our hopes and dreams and desires in each and every child so that they can meet their own potential,” Irwin said. “You are getting teachers who give 110 percent every day who teach our children basics, like numbers and letters all the way to calculus and expository writing, chemistry, forestry, agriculture, hard and soft sciences, geography and history, fine arts and music, and civics, to name a few of the content areas.”
Also on the ballot is an article to form a committee to study the feasibility of having students pay for extracurricular activities, including sports.
There are no contested races on the ballot. No candidate filed to fill the three-year seat of Shannon Howe, who is not seeking re-election.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
