BRIDGEWATER — An overflow crowd voted, 291-28, to withdraw from School Administrative Unit 4 during Town Meeting on March 12. The overwhelming support surprised even proponents of the plan to form a “special-purpose” school district for the towns of Bridgewater, Groton, and Hebron.
The two other towns also must vote affirmatively for the withdrawal measure to take effect. Groton voters will be deciding on Saturday, March 16, and Hebron voters will take up withdrawal at their town meeting on Tuesday, May 14. Should any of those towns vote against the measure, the three towns would remain part of the Newfound Area School District.
[Update: Groton voted, 109-10, for withdrawal on March 16.]
Attendance at the meeting was unusually high, with the crowd filling the Town Hall and spilling over into extra meeting space at the fire station next door, connected by large monitors with sound that allowed them to participate. With the parking lot full, the town arranged for additional parking at the Bridgewater Inn and the Bridgewater-Hebron Village School, with a shuttle bus carrying residents to the meeting.
The agenda included only two items: the withdrawal and the town’s operating budget.
Selectman Terry Murphy offered a successful budget amendment that added $40,000, for a total budget figure of $1,813,000. Murphy explained that the increase was to cover the additional cost of its new ambulance.
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