March 10th Election Results

by Andrew Wallace

Last night’s election results were mixed to say the least. It’s with heavy hearts that we report that the SAU 90 teachers’ contract failed by 45 votes despite our efforts.  The results in Hampton were surprising on several levels, but we can learn from them and come back even stronger next year.  This is no consolation for the loss SAU 90 members are facing, but we reiterate our commitment to passing this contract.

We want to thank everyone for their hard work -the sign holders, postcard writers, lawn sign hosters, phone bankers, Facebook sharers and fundraiser raffle buyers & donors and of course, our great reps and negotiations team.

There were certainly many positive results here as well that deserve mention.  We congratulate the SESPA Paraeducators’ for their well deserved contract victory and all of the pro-education candidates who won office last night. In addition, all of the budgets passed (Go Seabrook!) and with the exception of Hampton Falls paving project, all of the SAU 90 and 21 school upgrades passed as well. 

Here is a condensed list:  
-SAU 90 and 21 budgets passed including a big win in Seabrook!
-SESPA contract passed!
-All SAU 90 and 21 school upgrade warrant articles passed  
(with one exception -the Hampton Falls paving project)
-Patricia O’Keefe won BIG for Seabrook Rep on WHS Bud Comm
-Andrea Shepard won the Hampton school board seat
-Jason Farias won the Hampton Falls school board seat
-Jennifer Hubbard and Kelli Hueber won Seabrook seats
-Nermina Peterson and Martin Tavitian won North Hampton seats
-The Hampton Firefighters contracts unfortunately did not pass

Upcoming Deliberative Session and Budget Committee Dates *IMPORTANT*

by Andrew Wallace

Deliberative Sessions are the final part of the process of creating a budget. During these sessions, a resident can petition to remove money from the proposed budget and the session attendees will vote on the proposal. Because of the usually small amount of attendees, petitions for budget cuts can be made that do not reflect the will of the town and for that reason attendance is VERY IMPORTANT. Please encourage pro-education voters to attend the deliberative sessions in their town and be present for a vote on petitioned cuts.