MANCHESTER, NH – The concept of Manchester’s School District becoming a department of the City of Manchester may still come before Manchester voters this fall after a decision by the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BMA) on Tuesday night.
The topic came up during the meeting’s new business section, as BMA Chairman Joseph Kelly Levasseur made a motion to refer the matter to the BMA May 20th Committee on Administration and Information Systems meeting, with a recommendation to be reported out to the full BMA meeting later that evening. A decision would be needed before early June for submission to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office for legal review.
Whether the Manchester School District (MSD) should be completely independent of the City of Manchester’s government or a department of the city’s government has been a question for nearly two decades as the MSD and its governing body, the Manchester Board of School Committee (BOSC), do not have the authority to levy taxes but do have the authority to submit a budget figure to the BMA which appropriates taxes on the MSD’s behalf.
Opponents of making the MSD a department of the city fear that members of the BMA do not have the policy expertise and needed time in their schedules to properly craft a school district budget, with the MSD annual budgets larger than all of the city’s current departments put together. Thus, the BOSC (or Manchester School Board if the district were to gain full independence) is needed to relieve that burden from the Aldermen.
Proponents of making the MSD a department of the city believe that members of the BOSC would not be responsible budgetary stewards if they did not have the BMA acting in an oversight role, noting the size of the budget and its continual growth.
Ward 3 Alderman Pat Long felt that Levasseur’s motion was out of order, stating that it was too similar to the motion made by Ward 6 Alderman Crissy Kantor at the board’s last meeting, and thus a reconsideration vote was needed. However, it was determined by city legal counsel that the motion by Levasseur differed from Kantor’s motion due to the fact that Kantor did not seek to submit the issue to committee and instead immediately approve the concept and request legal confirmation from the NH Attorney General’s Office.
Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais felt that it was better to examine the matter before moving forward given the complexity of the topic. He stated that if the school district were to become a department of the city, it would require 14 separate changes of the city charter. Even a more limited change that did not fully invest the schools into city government but gave the BMA more authority on how the MSD can spend appropriated funds would still require several charter changes, he said.
The Aldermen were deadlocked 7-7 on whether to move the motion forward. Levasseur and Kantor were joined by Ward 1 Alderman Chris Morgan, Ward 7 Alderman Ross Terrio, Ward 8 Alderman Ed Sapienza, Ward 11 Alderman Norm Vincent and Ward 12 Alderwoman Kelly Thomas. The mayor broke the tie in favor of moving the motion forward.