The Finance Committee urged voters to accept a lower figure for the assessment to the Whitman-Hanson schools.An article about possible renovations to the Maquan Elementary School passed with little discussion at Town Meeting on Monday, but voters rejected the school district’s assessment to Hanson. 

 Article 20 on the annual Town Meeting warrant had the School Committee seeking permission to submit the Maquan School project to the state’s School Building Authority. 

No money was requested in the article.

School Committee Chairman and Hanson resident Robert Hayes was prepared to give a PowerPoint presentation on the project, but the article came near the end of the meeting as Town Moderator Charles Mann asked for a sense of the meeting –– and the sense of the meeting was clearly that voters wanted to move on.  The article passed with a unanimous yes vote.

The school’s budget line item in the annual budget (Article 5) didn’t pass as quickly.  Last week, members of Hanson’s Finance Committee went to the School Committee and asked them to consider lowering Hanson’s assessment by $67,000.  School officials pointed out that they would have to proportionally lower Whitman’s assessment by $81,350 for a total reduction of $148,350.  The school’s rejected this move, but the budget recommended by both the Finance Committee and the town administrator on Town Meeting floor was the lower number, an assessment of $6,630,430 rather than $6,697,430.

Hayes pointed out that last year, the School Committee actually reduced their request to the two towns and gave each community a refund check.

“We spend great pains to put the budget together to keep this very prudent,” Hayes said.

He said the schools have lost 82 positions over the past several years, and they were looking to restore four, including a computer technician whose elimination Hayes called “a mistake.”

Finance Committee Chairman Sean Kealy noted if the school’s request was approved, it would have to come out of the town’s stabilization fund.

“We wanted to have the schools help shoulder the burden in this very difficult year,” he said.  “The problem that I have is what happens next year?  What happens next year when state aid is cut for us and cut for them?  Will they be asking for an override?”

Kealy said the $67,000 reduction was less than 1 percent of the school’s total budget.  He also pointed out taking money out of stabilization hurts the towns bond rating –– a rating that is used when the community borrows money for school projects.

When the vote was taken, Hayes’s amendment was rejected 41-114.

Although Whitman approved their assessment, Hanson’s negative vote means the entire school budget will have to come back to the discussion table.  The School Committee will vote to either accept the lowered assessment or force a new Town Meeting.