The vote came after town officials had agreed to add $300,000 to the proposed school system budget last week.
LUDLOW -Voters at Monday’s annual Town Meeting approved a town budget of $54,134,517 for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
The budget includes a fiscal 2013 school budget of $25,708,208, an increase of 1.8 percent over the prior year’s school budget.
A week ago the Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee agreed to add an additional $300,000 to the original recommended school budget, bringing the total recommended school budget to $25.7 million.
School officials had said that with the original recommended school budget they would have had to cut 15 staff positions next year, including 10 teachers, a guidance counselor, two teacher aids and two tutors.
With the passage of the fiscal 2013 school budget, school officials at a future meeting will discuss what positions can be added back.
Selectman Manuel Silva has stated that he does not want to see Portuguese teachers cut at the middle school or high school due to spending cuts.
Monday’s session of the annual Town Meeting was the second session.
Approval of the budget was by a majority show of hands.
The second session of the annual Town Meeting took just over half an hour.
Last week selectmen and the Finance Committee after hearing from the School Committee reached agreement on the budget amounts they would recommend.
Town Meeting member Christine Davis at the Town Meeting questioned the salaries for the selectmen, asking how often selectmen’s meetings are held.
Town Moderator Jason Thompson ruled that Davis’ question was not pertinent because selectmen are paid on a salary, not by the number of hours they meet.
The chairman of the Board of Selectman is paid an annual salary of $4,350. The other members of the Board of Selectmen are paid an annual salary of $3,404.