By Alex Malm
During the Tuesday night, Dec. 14, Londonderry School Board meeting an announcment was made that Londonderry Superintendent Scott Laliberte would be retiring at the end of the school year.
Laliberte was not present at the meeting, and no statement was available, but a moment of silence was taken for his mother at the start of the meeting.
In other personnel matters the School Board also accepted the retirement of Elaine Allen the Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent, who plans on retiring at the end of the school year as well.
Also during the meeting the School Board heard budget presentations from the different schools.
For Londonderry High School the budget for 2022 is $526,973, Principal Jason Parent said.
He said that the proposed budget for next year is $516,474. Parent said that it represents a decrease of $10,499 which is also a 1.02 percent decrease.
Parent explained that each year they analyze what textbooks and other materials they need. This year there won’t be any textbooks.
“There are no new text book requests,” said Parent.
He also noted that most of the line items are level funded or have reductions this year.
“Our budget is always designed with the intent of remaining level funded,” said Parent.
Over the past 13 years, Parent said that they have cut an average of two positions per year, but this year they won’t be cutting any in the proposed budget.
School Board member Bob Slater said that over the past five years they have been able to keep the high school budget within 1 to 2 percent. He said that he was happy they were able to continue that trend this year.
“Thank you for looking at these line items and for being as efficient as you can,” Slater told Parent.
For the Londonderry Middle School budget Principal William Van Bennekum said that the proposed budget for next year is $171,187 which is a decrease of $31,022 from this year’s budget which is $202,209.
Some of the budgeted items that were pointed out in the budget for activities include $10,000 for Washington D.C. Trip Scholarships, $3,000 for assembly programs, and $5,000 for social well-being.
It was also pointed out that they are reducing one full-time position which will be reallocated in a different area.
Slater pointed out that they are usually plus or minus 4 percent for the middle school budget and said that this year they are at a 16 percent reduction for the operational budget.
At the North School in the proposed budget the School is proposing the addition of two café/recess monitors for the daily supervision of children at all grade levels. The school is also proposing a reduction of one elementary classroom position.
In the proposed budget, South Elementary School is proposing a 0.4 position increase for a guidance counselor position to bring South School in line with the other two elementary schools that have two full-time counselors.
The school is also proposing the addition of two cafeteria/recess monitors for the daily supervision of children at all grade levels. They are also proposing a reduction of one elementary classroom position.
For Matthew Thornton, the School is proposing the addition of two cafeteria/recess monitors for the daily supervision of children at all grade levels. There is also a proposed reduction of one elementary classroom position in the budget.
The next School Board meeting is slated for Jan. 6 at 7 p.m.