Anonymous postings around Nahant fuel for override controversy

NAHANT – In response to questions anonymously posted throughout town that questioned the current proposal’s necessity, school officials argued Tuesday night that the $260,000 override to support Johnson Elementary School will be cheaper than educating students out of town.”I have no idea if it was one person, a group of people, or a few people” who posted the questions, said School Committee member Christine Kendall after the school budget hearing where the questions were addressed.”I wish they would come forward and make it easier. If somebody has concerns or questions, ask them publicly? let’s address it so that people have the right information.”The $260,000 override proposal is the first override proposed for the town in 10 years. Without the override, 21 line items – including everything from funds to pay substitute teachers and offer art, music and physical education classes to health supplies in the nurse’s office – would be eliminated to meet minimum state requirements.School committee members said they were worried that residents without children in the schools or others living on a fixed income will not support the proposal. If the override passes, the average tax bill will increase by approximately $189 or $3.50 per week, according to numbers from Town Accountant Deborah Waters and based on a median home valuation of $540,000. The override must be approved by both a 2/3 majority vote at the Town Meeting and a ballot question at the town election. Both votes will be held on April 30.But the list of questions dominated discussion at the hearing. In fact, several members of the school committee looked around the room curiously when they opened the hearing to see if the person who put up the posters would appear. After nobody came forward, Johnson School PTO Secretary Roxanne Schena approached the table and read the questions to school officials.The questions concerned the costs triggering the override proposal as well as whether school officials had analyzed the costs of the override versus other options, most notably sending some or all of Nahant students to Swampscott Public Schools.School Superintendent Philip Devaux and the School Committee attribute the budget shortfall to two factors. First, the town faces a $113,000 reduction of state and federal funds from last year due to state cuts in reimbursements for special-education costs and the expiration of federal stimulus funds.Meanwhile, special-education costs have grown dramatically. The district’s transportation costs for special-education students have tripled. Several new students who require specialized schooling have also entered the district.In response to whether school officials had investigated sending some or all students to Swampscott, Devaux said that it costs $8,340 to send a student out of district. Adding in the costs of a new bus to transport the students, this translates to roughly $490,000 to send the 53 students in the incoming 5th and 6th grades to Swampscott, Devaux said. To educate the students in Nahant will cost $210,000 due to teachers salaries for three classrooms and supplies, according to the proposed budget.To send all the Nahant students to Swampscott and close the Johnson School would cost an estimated $2.2 million, including $400,000 in special-ed costs that the town would still have to pay in accordance with their current contract agreement with Swampscott, Devaux said.”These are all mandated costs, there is no debate about the figures,” Devaux argued. “There would be no control in our town over those costs and we will be paying a portion of costs for Swampscott administration, football teams, and other expenses.”The costs to educate the students at Johnson School, and including the $260,000 override, will total $1.7 million. (The remainder of the $3.13 million budget is dedicated to costs for sending Nahant students to Swampscott Middle School and Swampscott High School.)School Committee member Kendall reminded the audience that