LONDONDERRY — It will be a busy weekend for residents in Londonderry as they hear details on both school district and town spending plans at back-to-back deliberative sessions.
The school’s annual meeting is Friday, Feb. 9, at 7 p.m. at the Londonderry High School cafeteria.
On Saturday, Feb. 10, it’s the town’s turn to present its proposed budget numbers and warrant articles at 9 a.m., also in the high school cafeteria.
Residents will hear details about spending hopes, and what other warrant article expenditures might move on to the March ballot for both school and town.
The total proposed town operating budget is $45,859,596.
Along with the budget, residents will also get details on a list of warrant articles, including the annual request for money to support cemetery expansion and funding for existing capital reserve efforts for fire equipment, cable and recreation.
Residents will also hear what bringing pickleball to town could mean, with an article asking for $490,000 to fund the design and construction of up to 10 courts.
Pickleball has been brought before voters before with a task force put in place to study the idea of bringing the popular sport to Londonderry.
Another town article will ask voters to consider amending the town charter to make the town treasurer job an appointed one, as opposed to letting voters choose at the polls who does the job.
On the school side, the deliberative session will give residents another look at what the district wants to spend for 2024-25, including a proposed budget of $88.2 million.
The operating budget is a good number, according to school Superintendent Dan Black, saying at a recent public hearing that a lot of hard work went into crafting the numbers, keeping students and staff in mind while focusing on ways to continue to offer the best education possible in a fiscally sound way.
“A lot of hard decisions were made to get here,” Black said, adding it was a collaborative effort between administration, budget committee members and many others giving input and support.
One big spending number that could make it to the March ballot is a $34.2 million project to expand and add on to Moose Hill School, where the district’s preschool and kindergarten programs are housed.
If voters agree, the Moose Hill project is slated to solve both overcrowding issues and add a full-day kindergarten program.
The deliberative session is the first session of the Annual Meeting in SB2 towns. This session is when warrant articles are explained, discussed and may be amended. Voting on the amended articles is March 12.
