Appropriation for a four section Driscoll School

Special Town Meeting, November 2019

This is a duplicate of special appropriation item 32 under Article 9 submitted by the Advisory Committee for the May 2019 Town Meeting warrant. The special appropriation was converted to a resolution at the May 2019 Town Meeting; the resolution stated "that Town Meeting urges the Select Board to prepare a debt exclusion question specifically for a 4-section Driscoll School and to place said question on the ballot of a special town election, to be held no later than the Special
Town Meeting in Fall 2019." This resolution passed by a vote of 153-57-15. In anticipation of the Select Board potentially placing the called-for debt exclusion question on the ballot after the warrant closes, the original special appropriation is being resubmitted for the Fall Special Town Meeting warrant. As in the Spring, this article could be used to either appropriate the funds authorized by a debt exclusion passed by the voters before Town Meeting, converted to an appropriation contingent on a debt exclusion vote scheduled no more than 90 days after Town Meeting, or converted again to a resolution.

As of the closing of the warrant, it is expected that the School Committee's Capital Subcommittee will vote on a recommendation for a long-term capital plan including the Driscoll School at their September 10 meeting, and will present this recommendation to the full School Committee on September 12. The Select Board would have to vote to authorize a debt exclusion ballot by October 1 to hold an election on November 5, the traditional "first Tuesday in November" election day. There are no competing state or national elections this year. Delaying the election date past November 5 conflicts first with the Veterans Day weekend, and then with Town Meeting the following week.