School Board Vote To Not Recommend Voting Day Change

During the Jan. 22 School Board meeting, one of the agenda items was deciding on whether or not the School Board would support a warrant article that would change the date of voting in the town moving forward.
The petitioned warrant article reads:
“Shall the Town of Hudson and the School District change the date of the elections from the second Tuesday in March to the second Tuesday in April in accordance with RSA 40:14, which would also change the date of the deliberative sessions to a date between the first and second Saturdays after the last Monday in February, inclusive. This warrant will only take effect if it passes on the both the town and school districts ballots.”
Previously the Board of Selectmen voted 4-0-1 to recommend the warrant article, with Chair, Marilyn McGrath, abstaining.
Resident, Mike Tranfaglia, who brought the warrant article forward, said he hopes the change in date will increase voter turnout.
In an email he wrote, “Last week I submitted a warrant article to change the date of the school and town election. The purpose of this warrant article is to push the election date past the threat of inclement weather that would postpone the election as it has twice in the past few years.
If the warrant article doesn’t pass on both the school and town ballot, then it wouldn’t go into effect.”
One of the concerns raised by school district officials previously is that by delaying the election, it could lead to delays and or issues with hiring. Superintendent, Dan Moulis, explained that their main concern is how it may impact the hiring of any new positions that are part of the budget, explaining that they wouldn’t be able to hire anyone until the budget passes.
School Board member, Gary Gasdia, said on the surface it’s a “no brainer” to change the voting day, but because of staffing concerns it changes his opinion of it.
He said he is also concerned some voters may not realize the challenges related to staffing if they push the voting day back.
Vice Chair, Maureen Dionne, also noted that she has concerns about being able to hire people for different positions if they go with a later voting day.
“I do believe there will be an impact on hiring,” she said.
One question raised was whether or not they could change their vote at the Deliberative Session based on what they hear from the public.
Business Administrator, Jen Burk, explained that generally they would only be able to change their vote if there is a substantive change to the warrant article.
The School Board ultimately voted to not recommend the warrant article.

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