North Stonington — Residents will go to the polls for the second time Monday to vote on a proposed 2017-2018 education budget that previously failed by just 10 votes. approved the government budget, but rejected the education budget, 294-284.  

The polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Town Hall.

After North Stonington officials held off on proposing a government and education budget until after the state budget passed, residents were finally given the opportunity to vote at a referendum in late November. At that referendum, which saw relatively low voter turnout, residents

The rejection of the proposed $12.87 million education budget, which called for a zero percent increase from last year, left the town in a rather strange position. While the town has struggled to pass a budget before, it is rare for it to have passed a government budget, but not an education budget going into mid-December. second vote. Town officials from both boards expressed concern that poor timing of the vote and poor communication led to low voter turnout, which did not accurately reflect town sentiment. clearly divided over the matter.

After the budget's defeat, the Board of Selectman and Board of Finance held meetings and decided to put the same exact budget back before voters for a

If the budget passes Monday, the school district will essentially proceed the same way it has all year. To this point, it has been operating off of last year's budget, which was at a zero percent increase as well.

Both First Selectman Mike Urgo and Board of Finance Chairman Dan Spring previously expressed opposition to the idea of cutting the budget, and Superintendent Peter Nero has already said that even with a zero percent increase, the school will likely have issues with cash at the end of the year. 

At a town meeting last Monday, residents were

Some residents tied their frustration with this year's education budget to last year's contentious school modernization project, and argued that residents' pocketbooks are simply too tight to support even a zero percent increase.

Meanwhile other residents praised the high achievement of North Stonington schools while consistently working with a rarely increased budget. Since 2009 the education budget has only increased by more than 1 percent twice. These residents also tended to argue that although times are tight, residents needed to support and make sacrifices for the schools. 

c.clark@theday.com