By Nathan Duke
Staff Writer

The proposed district budget and new teachers’ contracts were both approved without contention for the ballot at John Stark School District’s deliberative session.

About 35 people attended the brief meeting, in which board members provided details about the three-year collective bargaining agreement between the school board and the John Stark Teachers Association and bade farewell to two colleagues.

School Board Chairman Gary McGrath said that the district needs to be aggressive when hiring faculty.

“Not only should we retain our excellent staff, but we also have to be competitive when we have a space to fill,” he said. “We are in competition with every other high school in New Hampshire.”

The bargaining agreement includes 85 professional staff members, including classroom teachers, teacher specialists, guidance counselors, a librarian and a nurse. There will an average salary increase of 3.98 percent over a period of three years. The estimated increases in cost each year from the agreement are $467,021 in the 2005- 06 school year, $165,508 in 2006-07 and $230,615 in 2007- 08.

Board member Elizabeth (Lisa) Hustis said that the community supports the agreement. “Negotiating contracts is sometimes a challenge,” she said. “It takes a lot of time to get through each particular clause. But the community and staff (of John Stark) have been supportive and the new staff members are very supportive of the needs of the community.”

The district’s operating budget was also approved for the ballot. School officials are asking voters to approve $10.4 million for the next fiscal year. If it is voted down, a default budget of $10.26 million will go into effect.

The meeting was the last for two board members – Hustis, who has served for 20 years on the board, and William Johnson, who has served nine years.

“I’ll miss serving on this board; it’s been a wonderful experience,” said Johnson. “This is the only building in the state of New Hampshire that does not smell like a school building,” he said, which got a laugh and a cheer from the audience. The departing board members were given a standing ovation and Hustis hugged her fellow board members.

“I hope to continue in public service and hope that you do so as well,” she said to the audience. “It’s great to give back to your community.”