HOLLIS – In an almost seven-hour annual Co-Op District meeting, Hollis and Brookline residents voted in favor of an artificial turf field and approved the district’s portion of the SAU budget, but voted against a STEM and Robotics lab.

The field, the STEM lab and the SAU budget all needed a two-thirds majority vote taken by a secret ballot to pass. The field passed by only a slim margin with 537 yes votes and 264 no. The STEM lab got the majority vote with 439 in favor, but with 266 no votes, it did not have the necessary two-thirds.

Dozens of people took to the podium in the first three and a half hours to address the two bonded warrant articles, the $1.6 million artificial turf field and the $1.9 million STEM Robotics lab/Fitness Center. Both articles were discussed at length this year in three public forums.

Thursday night’s speakers, many of whom stayed into the early hours of Friday morning, addressed a variety of concerns ranging from whether or not the district would have to irrigate to the turf field to why the taxpayers were being expected to fund extracurriculars and not education. Eric Power, a civil engineer, said that he was concerned about the cost of the field. Crumb rubber, which may soon be banned in New Hampshire because of the toxicological composition, is significantly less expensive than some of the more natural alternatives that Superintendent Andrew Corey said they would also look into. The second least expensive option, he said, was still $300,000 more expensive than crumb rubber.

“We need to get a grass field that’s safer for our children,” he said.

Despite conflicting reports that the turf will need to be watered, Corey said that was not the case.

Those in favor of the turf, however, argued that the current fields are so overused that they are nothing but “clumps of dirt and grass.”

Resident Charity Bell said that while her own children were not athletes, “Every student deserves a place in the school where they feel successful.”

Whether that place is on the athletic field or in the robotics lab, she argued, “We owe it to them.”

In accordance with the bond, the field will be paid for by the two towns in a 70/30 split, with Hollis taking the majority.

Due to the late hour, nearly 100 people left after voting for the field, which, some people claim could have cost the STEM lab its win.

Supporters were very vocal about their desire for the lab, which would also mean a new fitness center and office for the athletic

director.

Carryl Roy, who said she and her husband both work in STEM fields, said it is an incredibly fast moving

industry.

“We cannot leave our children behind with this, absolutely not … I highly recommend this and I implore our other voters to do the same.”

One student, who was met with thunderous applause from the audience, said that FIRST Robotics had a huge impact on his life, and that he was accepted to several colleges largely because of his position on the team.

“We are the future and I urge you to vote in (our) best interest,” he said.

However, resident Debbie Pucci argued that the district had just seen a

dramatic drop in math scores for the first time in years.

“This is very serious. I do not appreciate people disregarding and being distracted by STEM,” she said.

Eric Power spoke again and also addressed the declining test scores. While it was a nice idea, he said, the timing was not right.

The $806,808 sum in article three is the Hollis Brookline Cooperative School District’s portion of the SAU budget of $1,577,723. The issue was previously voted on in both Hollis and Brookline as well, totaling 829 yes and 393 no.

An additional secret ballot was called for when voting for the teacher contracts, which passed with a majority vot, 213-115.

In the proposed contract, there would be an estimated increase of $302,962 in FY 19, increasing to $359,464 by FY 21. The school board recommended the salary and benefit increases in the three-year contract. The budget committee, however, did not. There was a risk in calculation for years two and three, budget committee member Darlene Mann said. There would be teachers retiring and younger, less experienced teachers at lower “steps” taking their places, she said. The choice not to recommend also come from the contract not addressing health care contribution rates and sanbornization, or multi-year collective bargaining agreements.

There was a fair amount of discussion surrounding the contract, with the majority of speakers voicing their support for the teachers, who they said, are regular people who are trying to pay bills and should be compensated fairly.

“I don’t think our relationship to our teachers should be this adversarial,” one woman said.

As another pointed out, the “strength of our schools is our teaching staff.”

The meeting moved to recess and will continue discussing warrant articles six through 14, which include the operating budget. The meeting will convene at 7 p.m. Thursday at the high school.

Hannah LaClaire can be reached at 594-1243 or hlaclaire@nashuatelegraph.com.