Hearing marked by debate

SWANZEY CENTER - At the start of the Monadnock Regional School District's nearly five-hour public budget hearing Thursday night - during which arguments would be swapped, sentences would be interrupted and a budget committee member would challenge disgruntled teachers to sue the school district - the loudspeakers picked up a voice.

From somewhere outside the Monadnock Regional High School cafeteria, what sounded like an adolescent girl sang the words, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" But any love there at the start of the meeting quickly dissipated into heated debate as the 2007-08 budget was picked apart.

Ultimately, the budget committee, charged with setting the budget number to go before voters - sent on the school district's proposed 2007-08 budget of $31,850,989, of which $30,880,989 would come from taxpayers' pockets. The proposal represents an almost 5-percent increase over this year's budget.

As one of the evening's many touchy topics, the budget elicited sharply differing opinions from both the committee and members of the nearly 150-person audience.

"Your obligation is to ensure the funding to educate my children," Amy B. Randall, a 33-year-old mother of three from Swanzey, told the committee. However, another audience member said his tax dollars can only go so far. The budget was hardly the only source of conflict during the evening, which was tense from the get-go. At about 7 p.m., a crowd of teachers entered the cafeteria en masse, after the teachers' union and school board failed to hash out a 2007-08 contract by Tuesday's deadline.

Despite lacking a teachers' contract, this year's warrant articles detail a much-debated two-year collective bargaining agreement between the school board and support staff members.

In addition to altering benefit plans, the warrant proposes a wage increase of approximately 9 percent in its first year, according to N.H. School Administrative Unit 38 Business Manager Katherine Chambers.

This was the only warrant article that wasn't endorsed by the budget committee Thursday night.

Support staffers "are the backbone of what our district is and what our district needs. They support the teachers, and it just floors me that (the budget committee) did not support these guys," said Colline Dreyfuss of Swanzey, school board chairman.

Budget committee members who did vote for the support staffers' collective bargaining agreement included James Ells, Jonathan Kenyon, Robert J. Smith and Stephen B. Russell, all of Swanzey, as well as Robert L. Mitchell of Gilsum, Don G. Arguin of Sullivan and Normand A. Dion of Troy.

Richard E. Bauries of Swanzey opposed the collective bargaining agreement, arguing that it would not require members of support staffs to take on enough of their health-care costs.

Also voting against the plan were budget committee Chairman Cornelius "Neil" Moriarty of Richmond, Vice Chairman Thomas F. Parker of Fitzwilliam, Andy Bueckner of Roxbury, George Tremblay of Troy, as well as Jane Fortson and Eric Stanley of Swanzey.

John Tommila of Fitzwilliam was the only member who abstained. Teachers and support staff workers, most of whom left the hearing after the article failed to win endorsement, declined comment.

Still another source of debate Thursday night stemmed from an ongoing dispute over early retirement benefits. That had factored heavily into the failure to negotiate teachers' contracts, according to Dreyfuss and board attorney Paul L. Apple.

According to Apple, early retirement was originally offered as an incentive for seasoned, and thus more expensive, teachers to retire.

"Theoretically, this would save the district money because younger teachers typically command lower salaries. However, faced with the daunting economic realities of many more retirees, the plan has become much more of a financial burden," Apple said.

In a legal opinion written by Apple - and referenced Thursday night by supporters of both sides of the issue - there is disagreement about whether early retirement should expire without the existence of a new contract, or whether it should continue as a "status quo" benefit until it is specifically discontinued.

Some questioned the validity of early retirement altogether.

"I believe that if somebody brings up an issue and says it's illegal, we as a budget committee should vote to say whether we think it's legal or not legal," Moriarty said.

And on Thursday night, Bauries unsuccessfully tried to nix millions of dollars set aside for early retirement from the default budget, which will be used for the 2007-08 year if the proposed budget fails at the polls.

When faced with the prospect of the teachers' union firing back with an unfair labor practice lawsuit against the district, Bauries proposed allocating $25,000 for an attorney.

He said he'd welcome the chance to have a lawyer examine if early retirement was ever legal, adding, "Let's get sued."

Other warrant articles okayed by the budget committee Thursday night include: A default budget of $29,965,825, which is newly adjusted to cover certain technology upgrade costs.

$1,173,886 for the Monadnock district's share of the N.H. School Administrative Unit 38 budget.

The appropriation of $348,098 for the repair of health- and safety-related maintenance items throughout the district's school buildings and $428,832 for roof repairs at the Monadnock middle and high school building. Both projects will be paid for out of a capital reserve fund.

$187,000 for repairs to the Monadnock middle and high school's gym.