School Bond, Teacher Contract and Operating Budget all Fail

Windham voters sent another aggressive message to the school board in 2013 as residents again knocked down a wave of warrant articles, including a $31 million bond article for a new school and corresponding turf field.

Going down with the bond was Article 3, which called for the appropriation of funds over the next three years for a negotiated teacher contract. The 'no' vote caused surprised gasps from many in attendance at the Windham High School polls Tuesday night.

Also taking a blow was the district's $45,579,114 operating budget. A default budget of $45,133,742 will now be used.

The scene was all too familiar to 2012, when $711,000 in architectural and engineering fees for a new school were knocked down along with the operating budget and another article related to portables.

This year, however, a tenured board member also went down with the bond articles.

Three-term incumbent Dr. Bruce Anderson lost his bid for another three years to Dennis Senibaldi, a former selectman who ran on a platform against the new school bond.

Senibaldi said he had a conversation with Anderson before the results were read. The two talked about how regardless of who won, the school board needs to do some soul-searching on the next steps of what happens for the district.

"The key to getting all of us closer together are numbers," said Senibaldi, saying that there is too much separation on the bond numbers and that residents can't be hearing different statistics from all angles.

"I think the residents are really trying to say you need to pull more people closer together," he said.

Senibaldi explained that he has a lot of work to catch up to where Anderson was as a tenured member.

"I think I'm up to the challenge," he said, adding that he plans on reaching out to the entire board and the superintendent in the coming days. 

School Business Administrator Adam Steel said there is still confidence that the students in the district can receive a successful education despite the night's outcome.

"The school buses are going to roll tomorrow morning and pick up our kids," he said. "...The school will run. We will teach our kids to the best of our ability. We're very confident about that."

School Board member Stephanie Wimmer stood alongside fellow board member Dr. Jerome Rekart as she maintained her support for the warrant articles.

"I feel we recommended the right things to the voters," she said. "We will regroup and move forward."

Without getting into specifics, Rekart said much of the same, adding that the board needs to examine a number of things within the district and set a priority list moving forward.

Windham Education Association President Cathy Pappalardo said she was "fuming mad" after the results came through, adding that she can't believe even the operating budget was knocked down.

"I'm sad for our kids," she said. "I think they're going to face a hardship."

Pappalardo noted that the school board worked so hard to come up with a solution for the teachers in the district. Teachers are already prepared to leave Windham with their letters of recommendation ready, she said.

For complete school ballot results of the 2013 election, visit here.