ANDOVER — Selectmen said at a public hearing Saturday that they want to leverage $68,000 to try to keep open Andover Elementary School.
They need the authority of townspeople to do that. A special town meeting to decide the issue is scheduled for Tuesday, March 20.
The referendum article reads: “To see if the town will vote to authorize the Board of Selectmen to negotiate and enter into an agreement with SAD 44 school system to continue the operation of Andover Elementary School for the 2012-13 school year on such terms and conditions the board may deem in the best interest of the town of Andover. The agreement is not to exceed a total cost to the town of $68,000.”
After reading the article, Board of Selectmen Chairwoman Susan Merrow shared some history behind the proactive undertaking.
“So, just to recap so everyone understands, last April the school board voted to shut the school down,” she said.
That prompted a town vote in June, in which residents agreed to keep the school open by raising and paying the district $214,000, she said.
“There is a chance that the board will vote to shut it down again, because the board has to revote every year to close it if they want to close it,” Merrow said. “We’re trying to be proactive so we don’t end up back in the situation in June where they’re asking us to pay $214,000.”
The $68,000 would cover the utilities for the building and would pay the school’s principal, Merrow said.
“We can’t talk about any other options if the school’s closed,” she said. “So it is important to keep the school open.”
A few wanted to know how selectmen arrived at $68,000 when last year’s amount was $214,000.
“The $214,000 is what the state allows SAD 44 to say it would save by closing Andover School,” Selectman Keith Farrington said.
He said the $68,000 is an amount that selectmen and The Save/Recreate Andover Elementary Committee “came up with to make it look more attractive to the school board so they don’t vote to close the school.”
Later, Farrington said the amount would cover the cost of keeping the school and grounds operational for a year.
The $68,000 would equal about 1 mill in the tax rate ($1 per $1,000 of property value), he said.
Merrow said that seemed more suitable for taxpayers to handle than $214,000 again.
SAD 44 school board Chairman Sidney Pew of Andover asked whether the selectmen were attempting to negotiate an agreement with the school district. “And it’s not based on any specific number?”
“Right,” Merrow said. “It was just some logic that we came up with to find a balance.”
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- Andover Selectmen Susan Merrow, left, and Trudy Akers listen Saturday as Selectman Keith Farrington explains a charter school option for Andover Elementary School at a public hearing on keeping the school open.
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- Andover Elementary School
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