Newburyport override reconsidered

School supporters have another shot at getting an override before voters when the City Council meets Monday night.

The City Council is slated to vote on whether to hold a special election May 22 on a $1.58 million Proposition 2 1/2 override to fund the city's schools. Two weeks ago, the council rejected a similar request but since then, the School Committee supported a blueprint, submitted by Superintendent Kevin Lyons, for how the money would be spent.

The biggest 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 the district's oldest computers, some more than 10 years old.

The council's meeting, in City Hall, is slated to start at 7:30 p.m.

Newburyport has never had an override election, though voters in the past approved two debt exclusions.

--Kay Lazar