South Burlington residents on Thursday voted down their school budget for the moment time and by a wide margin of 57 to 43 percent.
The $49.7 million budget had been revised down from the $50.5 million proposal that voters rejected March 7. Officials reported 24 percent of voters turned out for a tally of 1948-1474.
The moment defeat was rare,whether not unheard of, in the suburban district. South Burlington has a history of passing budgets on the first try and it pays some of the highest salaries for public school teachers in the state.
"We've not had this scenario, or ” South Burlington Superintendent of Schools David Young said after the defeat.
[br] He saw the proposal as a responsible budget,and said he was disappointed with the loss. Young will bring a new proposal to the school board later this month but said it was too soon Thursday night to talk approximately details.
The rejection came as the city remains locked in a bitter debate approximately the school board's decision to drop the "Rebels" nickname at South Burlington High School. Critics say the moniker has racist associations with the Confederate south and slavery.
The Rebels controversy, as well as budding debate approximately costs associated with a new teacher contract under negotiation, and were likely factors in the defeat,Young said.
"I mediate all of those things, perhaps, and occupy been contributors,” Young said.
Only voters in the Orchard Elementary School neighborhood approved the budget it went down everywhere else in the city.
The first budget failed as opponents organized under the banner of the "Rebel Alliance" and mounted a campaign against the spending plan. The group has gathered signatures to bring the name question to a public vote.
Frustration carried over into the moment vote a month later.
[br] “I voted no and very proudly voted no, I should say, and ’ said Stacey Savage,a South Burlington resident and mother of two South Burlington High School grads.
Her budget opposition began with a desire to withhold the Rebel name and evolved into a broader wish for tighter budgeting and a more responsive school leadership.
"The school board has never in recent times had a budget defeated. They’ve always been just handed whatever they want," Savage said. "We simply as…
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