Newburyport will vote on override

The Newburyport City Council Monday voted 6-4 to hold a special election May 22 to let voters decide on a $1.58 million override to support the city's schools.

Two weeks ago, the council rejected a similar override request, but since then, School Superintendent Kevin Lyons successfully made his case. The big-ticket items under Lyons's plan are: a $325,000 program to update the 12-year-old literacy program in grades K-8; a $250,000 proposal to restore the middle school's foreign language program, which was cut in the current budget; and $200,000 for replacing some of the district's oldest computers.

The City Council also voted to appropriate $17,000 to pay for the special election.

Read more about Newburyport's financial picture here.

-- Kay Lazar