LYME — Voters at the Lyme School District’s annual meeting on Thursday night added $139,000 to the $8.4 million proposed school budget, according to the district clerk.

The addition brought the total operating budget to $8.5 million, which is up from $7.8 million for the current year. The addition was approved by a paper ballot vote of 96-51 and the amended article was approved, 106-29, District Clerk Elise Garrity said in a Thursday night email.

The $139,000 stemmed from two positions: a library/tech assistant and director of instruction, which the School Board had reduced late in the budget forming process, District Moderator Bill Waste said in a Friday email. The board had explained that the school's administrative structure had changed, as had the staffing in the technology area so the positions could be reduced or eliminated.

On Tuesday, voters supported restoring those funds, but they could not direct the funds for anything specific.

“In the discussion, the point was made clear that if passed the amendment would add that money to the ‘bottom-line’ of the budget and was not binding on the School Board to apply the funds to specific line items or purposes,” Waste said.

Voters also approved a separate article, which directs the board to hire an architect to assess renovation needs and safety issues of the school building at a cost of $50,000. 

 

 

 

 

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