A Special Town Meeting has been scheduled for March 9, when voters will be given a chance to approve taking up to $150,000 in reserves to avoid school layoffs.
Selectmen voted Monday to set the meeting, the result of a petition from hundreds of parents and other school supporters that circulated after Superintendent Carlos Colley announced he would lay off workers to close the budget gap.
The special vote will be held Tuesday, March 9 at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium. A two-thirds majority vote will be needed to take from the stabilization fund.
A contingent of school officials and supporters was on hand Monday for the selectmen’s vote.
Karen Powell, a co-chair of the group Westport Cares, said she was happy with the support, which also included a selectmen’s vote to back the use of reserves. “Our job has just begun,” she said.
Layoffs of teachers at the elementary and middle [...]

Original post by Grant Welker