School Budget Passes on Second Attempt

Voters in Durham and Middlefield approved the Regional School District 13 2011-20112 budget on Thursday.

The referendum passed with 1053 voting in favor of the budget and 927 voting against it, according to the unofficial results which were announced shortly after 8 p.m.

"That's good news," Board of Education Chairman Thomas Hennick said after hearing the results.

723 voters showed up at Korn Elementary school in Durham to support the budget, while 553 residents voted against it. 10 of 12 absentee ballots counted in Durham were in favor of the budget. 

In Middlefield, 320 residents voted "yes"at the Middlefield Community Center, while 372 voted "no".

The district's first referendum failed when 1147 voters rejected a $35,011,224 budget, and 1067 voted for it. The approved $34,786,974 budget will increase spending by 3.45 percent next year.

"We worked really hard, especially at our last meeting, to make the necessary cuts. We still want a high powered school system next year and we seemed to have found the right balance," Hennick said. "We're happy. We're extremely happy."

Editor's Note: Patch originally reported a final tally of 1043-925. The final numbers above were corrected after the Durham Town Clerk notified Patch that absentee ballots had not been counted.