WHEN THE BOARD of School Committee meets on Monday, the members would do the city a favor to simply skip to the part about the budget.

The Manchester Education Association spent last week in meetings trying to decide if it should take the health insurance concessions deal offered by the district or if it can work out some other plan to save some, but not all, of the positions slated for layoffs. If the district's largest union continues talks, it gives school board members a glimmer of hope that school programs won't be decimated. But if the answer is no, the board and the public need to hear that message too, and as soon as possible.

What the board won't be asked to do is lay off more staff. Although the deadline for pink-slipping teachers has passed, Superintendent Thomas Brennan can ask for more cuts to support staff, such as paraprofessionals. He said last week that even though he will have to trim his budget even further if the aldermen allocate anything less than $152 million, he is confident he can do so by not filling vacancies caused by resignations and retirements.

Brennan is also counting a number of vacancies caused by “non-renewals,” junior teachers still in their four-year probationary period who have been asked not to come back.

“Between the (reduction in force) and the levels of attrition, which includes non-renewals, we're confident we will not have to ask for additional layoffs,” said Brennan.

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THIS REDUCTION in staff will take its toll, Brennan admitted. Most elementary school classes will have 25 students and middle and high school teachers can expect classes “in excess of 30 students,” he said.

High school students may also find that some of the classes they signed up for next year will no longer be offered, such as Latin.

This news was not received well by some school board members who questioned whether Brennan had the authority to eliminate an entire program without consulting them.

“I thought I had the authority to (lay off) the teachers for what I thought would meet the quota of 161 across the district,” said Brennan. “We didn't talk about programs. We talked about course offerings. I need to talk to the board and find out what their concerns are.”

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BRENNAN PLEDGED IN this column a month ago he would personally deliver the pink slips when the time came to hand them out. But last Friday, Brennan was out of town for his daughter's wedding. His absence on that big day wasn't without regret.

“In my hope to get these out prior to Monday's (union) meeting, I came to the realization I couldn't do that,” said Brennan. “I'm very disappointed I was not able to get this done … That will always bother me but that was my intention, to hand them out.”

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MAYOR TED GATSAS didn't like the word “cherish” in the state Constitution's education language and he certainly doesn't like that the word “wholesome” is included in the House version of constitutional amendment CACR 12.

Gatsas said he was asked by Hooksett Republican state Rep. Dave Hess to look at the version coming out and comment on it. Gatsas suggested removing 39 words, including the word “wholesome” from the phrase, “the Legislature shall have the full power and authority to make wholesome and reasonable standards for elementary and secondary public education.”

“Whatever constitutional amendment comes out should be short,” said Gatsas. “I don't think it should have a word like wholesome, which no one can give me a definition of.”

Gatsas has also suggested taking out both occurrences of the phrase, “as it may judge for the benefit and welfare of this state,” referring to the Legislature's powers. While this could be construed as an attempt to remove some of the Legislature's authority over the budget, Gene Van Loan, attorney at Wadleigh, Starr and Peters, said the changes are not substanative.

“It's language that's already in the constitution; however, it really is unnecessary language,” said Van Loan.

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CHANGES TO A BILL in Concord will give Manchester School District more freedom when crafting its budget.

Board of School Committee member David Wihby, along with Alderman and state Rep. Barbara Shaw, helped get two amendments to Senate Bill 373 added that will allow Manchester schools to keep more of the money left over at the end of the budget year. Right now, the district must return the bulk of its surplus to the city to reduce the tax rate, but what happens more often is that the money gets shifted through a series of trust funds before the end of the budget year, a practice Wihby hopes will end in an effort to improve transparency.

Wihby said if the bill passes, the school board must vote to approve the budgeting changes. The proposal then goes to the aldermen for final approval.

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HACKETT HILL IS COMING up again at Tuesday's aldermanic meeting, but Ward 12 Alderman Patrick Arnold said he is going to ask the board to move on.

Arnold asked the aldermen to have the amended Hackett Hill contract with developer Richard Danais come back for another look. If the board again approves the new contract terms, which Arnold and six fellow aldermen opposed, Arnold said he is going to ask the board to send out a request for proposals to find a builder for a new city-funded fire station on Hackett Hill.

Arnold said the contract is still a sweetheart deal for Danais, but in the end he just wants to see the badly needed station built.

Read Beth LaMontagne Hall's coverage of Manchester City Hall in the New Hampshire Sunday News. Email her at bhall@unionleader.com.