Selectmen Remove Possible Override, Reconsider 3-2 Budget Recommendation

The wheels of government are constantly in motion, and now Town Meeting voters heading to the Abbot School on March 23 will have one more change after Tuesday's Board of Selectmen meeting.

Article 11, which will set the town's operating budget for Fiscal '14, will now have no option to possibly consider a Prop 2 1/2 overide vote following news from School Superintendent Bill Olsen that could potentially impact next fiscal year's school budget.

That budget had been recommended by the Selectmen with a split 3-2 vote before the news from Olsen that Westford's schools would be getting $88,000 in the first installment of a $4.1 million settlement from the Merrimack Special Education Collaborative, a settlement shared by all towns within the collaborative.

Olsen recommended that if possible, the money be used for special education tuition for younger students, a recommendation the board unanimously agreed to.

And on that note, Andrea Peraner-Sweet requested a reconsideration of the 3-2 vote due to a hope that the board could move into Town Meeting unified on the budget and the new information.

Immediately after that vote, Board of Selectmen chairman Kelly Ross said he had gotten the perception that there was no interest in language on Article 11 that could allow a possible Prop 2 1/2 override vote, and moved to remove any mention of a possible override, a motion that was unanimously accepted.