Was article Article 11, a citizens petition warrant article, legally amended at the February 9, 2024 School Deliberative Session? The School District attorney says yes, some residents say no.
Article11 as at the Deliberative presented:
Shall the residents of Londonderry, New Hampshire vote for the division of the School District 12’s Operating budget to be divided into two parts:? Operating Budget A: for the School Administration Unit (SAU) covering all salaries and benefits of all the office staff, as well as all Principals and Vice Principals, and all operational expenses of the SAU 12. Operating Budget B: for all other school-related expenses. This aims to clearly differentiate administrative
After a vote of 50 to 43 in favor of an amendment the article was amended to read:
Shall the district express it’s support of the current method of presenting the operating budget to the voters
Residents cited RSA 197:6
197:6 Warrant and Articles. – Upon the written application of 25 or more voters or 2 percent of the voters of the school district, whichever is less, although in no event shall fewer than 10 registered voters be sufficient, presented to the school board or one of them not later than 30 days before the date prescribed for the school district meeting or the second Tuesday in March, whichever is earlier, the school board shall insert in the school district warrant for such meeting the petitioned article with only such minor textual changes as may be required. No article may be inserted after posting of said warrant. Corrections to petitioned warrant articles shall not in any way change the intended effect of the article as presented in the original petition. The right to have an article inserted in the warrant conferred by this section shall not be invalidated by the provisions of RSA 32.
Was the intent of the article changed, it appears so. For years Londonderry residents have been told that citizens petitions could not be amended until now.
The following day at the Town Deliberative Session it was noted that petition warrant articles could be amended, but not change the intent of the article. Several articles were amended to add ‘This is advisory only’ the amendment did not change the intent of the article.
When Article 11 was presented at a previous school board meeting, the administration said that the article could be amended at the Deliberative Session. I questioned the administration and said we have always been told citizens petitions could not be amended. Several days later School Board Chairman Bob Slater and I were at another public meeting. Mr. Slater told me that he had looked into amending the article and said it could not be amended. The night of the Deliberative Session I questioned Mr. Slater and asked what had changed? Mr. Slater did not respond.
Article 11 was moved to the ballot as amended to be voted on March 12, 2024