HARTLAND — Following the defeat of its proposed $11.1 million budget last week, the School Board made some cuts and set a date next week for a third vote.

At a May 30 emergency School Board meeting, the board decided to cut $90,539 from the budget by eliminating one middle school English and Language Arts, or ELA, teacher. That reduction brings the new budget to $11 million.

Those cuts come on top of others the board had previously made when it rescinded its originally warned budget in February. The previous cuts of more than half a million dollars included eliminating a Spanish teacher and a curriculum coordinator.

“I’m hoping that the community understands that we don’t have many more places to cut, and the cuts make almost no difference to the tax rates,” Hartland School Board Chairwoman Nicole Buck said in a recording of the May 30 meeting.

The latest budget reductions will reduce Hartland’s property tax rate by 2 cents, from $2.32 per 100 of property value to $2.30, according to Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union Superintendent Christine Bourne.

For a house assessed at $250,000, that would mean a change from $5,800 to $5,750, a reduction of $50.

If Hartland voters do not approve a budget by July 1, the district will be forced to operate at 87% of this year’s budget, which it will need to borrow from the state at an interest rate of 6.45%, Bourne said. Additionally, each round of balloting costs the district $1,400 to print new ballots.

Hartland’s school budget initially passed by a margin of just nine votes on April 2, with 631 residents voting. Later that month, two residents successfully petitioned for a revote based on concerns about low voter turnout.

A second round of balloting was held on May 28, resulting in the rejection of the same budget 551-537.

“We’re all disappointed that the budget did not pass,” Bourne said in the meeting.

The budget reductions and uncertainty are making a difference in the school’s operations. The elimination of the ELA teacher will reduce by half the amount of instructional time middle school students receive in reading and writing.

“There is nothing else to trim,” board member Hannah Foote-Bensimhon said at the May 30 meeting. “This is as lean as it will go.”

Hartland’s teachers currently have “letters of intent” to hire rather than contracts, and some board members expressed concerns that the continued uncertainty around the budget would result in teachers leaving the district.

“The longer and longer we do this we’re just going to start losing staff,” board member Beth Roy said in the May 30 meeting, “because it’s not worth that uncertainty.”

Because of the tight timeline between the warning and the voting date, absentee ballots will not be automatically sent to those who requested them in previous votes, Hartland Town Clerk John Paulette said Monday. Instead, Paulette said he will hold extended office hours on Friday and over the weekend for those who cannot vote on June 11 or who simply wish to cast ballots early.

Voting will take place by Australian ballot on Tuesday, June 11 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Damon Hall. Voters may cast ballots in person at the town offices beforehand. Contact the Town Clerk or see the Hartland Listserv for information about extended office hours and ballot availability.

A public information meeting will take place on Thursday, June 6, at 7:30 a.m. at the Hartland Elementary School.

Christina Dolan can be reached at cdolan@vnews.com or 603-727-3208.