It's that time of year again: The warrant articles marathon.
Rather than a town meeting, Hampton, NH has a day when residents show up at Winnacunnet High School and vote on a tome of articles concerning funding for schools, police, fire department and whether or not Mrs. Jones should be allowed to plant petunias on the far side of the sidewalk, which is ground actually owned by the town.
Sequestered in among all the weeds is a nasty little piece of work, warrant number 5 in the SAU category, having to do with schools.
The local Catholic school, Sacred Heart, located behind the Miraculous Medal church, has 39 children who live in Hampton but whose parents enrolled them in the Catholic school.
Now the Catholic school has presented a bill, it hopes the good people of the town will vote to pay for those 39 students x $998=$38,922. The school argues that if those children attended Hampton public schools, it would cost the town $15,000 to educate each of these kids, so the town is actually getting a break and saving money as a result of the efforts of Sacred Heart.
Of course, the immediate objection was this would be a violation of Church/State, a local government sponsoring a religious school
But that is not actually the most outrageous argument here: The basic premise is wrong. It's accounting flim/flam on the part of the Church.
It would cost the town of Hampton not a single dime more if all 39 of those students attended Marston Elementary, the Hampton Academy or Winnacunnet High. Those kids have already been paid for: the teachers are already in place to teach them; the buildings are already constructed (or, in the case of the Academy, under reconstruction at great cost); the facilities are already supported by Hampton taxpayers and now taxpayers are being asked by Sacred Heart parents to pay for their own private school.
If Hampton had a community swimming pool, would the parents of Sacred Heart ask the town to reimburse them for the private swimming pools they had built in their own backyards, on the grounds that the town no longer had to pay for the use of the community pool by the children of the homeowners with private pools?
And why not ask the town to pay for the country club memberships on the grounds that country club golfers are no longer burdening the public golf course?
The possibilities are rich and expansive.
How about the cost of landscaping your home, on the basis the town no longer has to pay for roadside beautification?
If this warrant article passes, Mad Dog will seek a lawyer willing to sue the town to prevent this payment. The warrant article may slip by, but the courts should have something to say about this boondoggle, which even in the age of Trump, is just one absurdity too far.
Rather than a town meeting, Hampton, NH has a day when residents show up at Winnacunnet High School and vote on a tome of articles concerning funding for schools, police, fire department and whether or not Mrs. Jones should be allowed to plant petunias on the far side of the sidewalk, which is ground actually owned by the town.
Sequestered in among all the weeds is a nasty little piece of work, warrant number 5 in the SAU category, having to do with schools.
The local Catholic school, Sacred Heart, located behind the Miraculous Medal church, has 39 children who live in Hampton but whose parents enrolled them in the Catholic school.
Now the Catholic school has presented a bill, it hopes the good people of the town will vote to pay for those 39 students x $998=$38,922. The school argues that if those children attended Hampton public schools, it would cost the town $15,000 to educate each of these kids, so the town is actually getting a break and saving money as a result of the efforts of Sacred Heart.
Of course, the immediate objection was this would be a violation of Church/State, a local government sponsoring a religious school
But that is not actually the most outrageous argument here: The basic premise is wrong. It's accounting flim/flam on the part of the Church.
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| Paid For Lovely School, Hampton, NH |
It would cost the town of Hampton not a single dime more if all 39 of those students attended Marston Elementary, the Hampton Academy or Winnacunnet High. Those kids have already been paid for: the teachers are already in place to teach them; the buildings are already constructed (or, in the case of the Academy, under reconstruction at great cost); the facilities are already supported by Hampton taxpayers and now taxpayers are being asked by Sacred Heart parents to pay for their own private school.
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| Hampton public school could use 39 more students |
If Hampton had a community swimming pool, would the parents of Sacred Heart ask the town to reimburse them for the private swimming pools they had built in their own backyards, on the grounds that the town no longer had to pay for the use of the community pool by the children of the homeowners with private pools?
And why not ask the town to pay for the country club memberships on the grounds that country club golfers are no longer burdening the public golf course?
 |
| Lovely public school |
The possibilities are rich and expansive.
How about the cost of landscaping your home, on the basis the town no longer has to pay for roadside beautification?
 |
| Really spiffy school could use more Catholic kids |
If this warrant article passes, Mad Dog will seek a lawyer willing to sue the town to prevent this payment. The warrant article may slip by, but the courts should have something to say about this boondoggle, which even in the age of Trump, is just one absurdity too far.
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