South Burlington voters approved a $55.6 million school budget Tuesday, in addition to several other measures that would allocate funds to the city’s schools and roads.
The budget was approved easily, 3,145 to 2,764 — despite significant struggles to get a school budget passed in previous years.
Last year on Town Meeting Day, South Burlington voters rejected a $209 million plan to build a massive new complex that would include a middle school, high school and athletic center. At the same time, they also nixed a proposed $55.8 million school budget. In May of 2020, voters again rejected a smaller proposed budget of $53.7 million — and by an even wider margin than the original vote.
Finally, in August, voters approved a $52.5 million spending plan in a vote of roughly 3,900 to 3,400. School officials said they had to slash everything from athletics to advanced placement classes, in addition to a salary freeze for non-union staff and a hiring freeze for new teachers.
This year’s approved budget of $55.6 million is 4.31% higher than the spending for the current year.
Two additional ballot questions on school funding also passed easily Tuesday.
The first, asking voters to approve an extra $2.5 million to replace the school’s roof and related building work passed 3,464 to 2,360. The second, requesting that any surplus from the 2021 fiscal year to go toward “unanticipated, non-reimbursable expenses” in fiscal year 2022 that are incurred due to the Covid-19 pandemic, passed 4,525 to 1,345.
Voters on Tuesday also approved a $50.7 million city budget, 3,770 to 2,092. The town voted 3,847 to 1,988 to approve a $4 million allocation of funds for a series of highway improvement projects.
The money would fund the engineering and construction of the Garden Street project between Dorset Street and Williston Road, and the upgrade of intersections at White Street and Midas Drive and Hinesburg Road and Patchen Road.
Additionally, Matt Cota, with around 2,900 votes, beat out incumbent David Kaufman, who got 2,600 votes, for the open seat on the city council, and the two open school board seats were filled by Travia Childs (two-year term) and Rebecca Day (three-year term), after the roles were vacated by Elizabeth Fitzgerald and Martin LaLonde, respectively.
Turnout for the election was on par with what officials expected, with 6,005 voters coming out to the polls, just under 39%.
South Burlington officials said Town Meeting Day turnout is typically about 5,000 out of 14,000 active voters. For the presidential election in November, about 12,000 cast ballots.
City clerk Donna Kinville called it a “good number for a town meeting.”
CORRECTION: Matt Cota challenged the incumbent, not vice versa.
