Approximately 900 people turned out for the Hamilton Town Meeting Monday night, filling the cafeteria at the Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School, then the auditorium, and spilling into the adjacent Miles River Middle School.

Following an hour of discussion, residents voted in favor of a $1,288,322 Proposition 2 ½ override for the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District.

With less discussion, residents also voted in favor of a $177,444 override for the town's operating budget. Both articles passed by voice vote.

The Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District is seeking a $1,889,589 override from the two towns. At its Town Meeting held Saturday, Wenham voters approved their share of the override, for $601,267.

To be approved, the override must pass at May 15 elections in both towns.

-- David Rattigan

The Hamilton-Wenham Regional School Committee voted Monday night to request a Proposition 2 1/2 override to help fund its fiscal 2009 budget.
According to an e-mail from Superintendent Marinel McGrath, the override will cost individual taxpayers an average of $393 per year.
The proposed override of $1,889,589 is less than the figure officials had used at budget presentations, and was lowered because of the March 20 House and Senate Joint Resolution on Chapter 70 aid that will give the district an additional $97,800 in state funds.
The '09 budget will maintain the current level of services, and be used to fund a small number of initiatives recommended in the administration's strategic plan. The total proposed budget for the school district is $27,031,567.
Hamilton voters will be asked to vote on a Proposition 21/2 override of $1,288,322 at Town Meeting May 5 and the Wenham override, for $601,267, will be voted on May 3.
Both towns passed school overrides last year, $340,121 in Hamilton and $154,817 in Wenham.
-- David Rattigan

With a vote by the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School Committee budget request scheduled for Monday, voters in Hamilton and Wenham may be looking at a Proposition 2 ½ override totaling $1,987,389.

While that may seem like a large sum to seek, the request has the backing of an organized advocacy group. Support Our Schools has been working since last spring to raise community awareness and garner support for school funding, wary of the recent pattern of reductions in Hamilton-Wenham schools.

SOS has sponsored its own meetings and encouraged attendance at others throughout the budget process. "We're committed to getting community support behind it, and to get this override passed,'' said SOS tri-chair Nancy Peterson.

Monday's meeting is at 6 p.m. at the Buker School, School Street, Wenham.

-- David Rattigan

After weeks of item-by-item deliberation, the Hamilton Board of Selectmen voted Thursday on a final figure for its Proposition 2 ½ override to support the town's operating budget. The town will seek $121,582.

That's not the only override this year. Residents also will vote on a $340,121 override for the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District, and a one-year capital exclusion for $82,500 for the purchase of two pickup trucks and a police cruiser.

Town Meeting is scheduled for May 7.
-- David Rattigan