It's been nearly six months since the Board of School Committee began talking about next year's budget. With less than three weeks to go in the fiscal year, the board's fight to get the district more money has devolved into a staring match with the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

Aldermen want the school board to make a move Monday. But school board members say they've been clear about their position for months: They want $152 million and won't use their one-time funds to bring back pink-slipped staff.

Two budgets most likely to come before the aldermen on Tuesday would set aside more money for the schools, but they come with strings attached. Alderman Phil Greazzo will propose a budget that would move $550,000 from the city's expected surplus into the city's contingency fund. A compromise budget being shopped around by Aldermen Jim Roy and Patrick Long would also set aside money for schools in city funds.

Both proposals would force district officials to come to aldermen sometime after July 1 to ask for the money and explain how they will use it.

Greazzo said on Thursday he'd support setting aside money for schools “if they put money out there to save themselves.”

Alderman At-Large Joe Kelly Levasseur said he might vote for Greazzo's plan, as well.

“I am for saving some of the teachers' jobs if the school district does something. If they do nothing on Monday, I'm going with the (mayor's) budget or Greazzo's budget.”

Apparently these aldermen haven't been paying attention. There's only one thing school board members have been talking about spending their money on since they saw how deep a budget hole they were in.

“We're not going to go down to Foxwoods and spend the money there,” said Committeeman Arthur Beaudry.

“Every school board member and the administration has said it will go to bring back teachers. I don't know where the confusion is coming from,” said school board Vice Chairman Dave Gelinas.

Putting money in city accounts for the schools would cross a tenuous, but long-respected line between schools and the city. Although aldermen may hate it, the city's system of government requires they allocate a set amount, and the school board decides how to spend it. The school board can't raise the tax rate no matter how much it would like to, and aldermen can't force the district to spend money on specifics.

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ANOTHER THING the aldermen aren't supposed to do is issue ultimatums. Aldermen have mentioned that they'd be more likely to give the schools more money if the school district used some of its $5 million in expendable trusts — money set aside for emergencies, such as unforeseen medical costs, but spent in recent years to keep staff on the payroll.

The school board already rejected using the one-time money next year, and although Gelinas said he's unsure whether the issue would even come up on Monday, he is ready to propose using $2.5 million to keep on some staff.

“There are some aldermen who think we should use all of it, which I feel is curious because in the past they have criticized us for using it,” said Gelinas.

“I'm voting against it,” said Beaudry. “Again, I'm not using one-time money. The mayor has pontificated against that for months. It's only pushing the problem down the road, and we truly have to stop that.”

At-Large Committeeman Kathy Staub said she'd reconsider spending some of the funds, but wants to know more about how much would be taken out.

As of Thursday, it looked like the school board was still split on the issue.

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SHOULD MANCHESTER HOLD partisan elections, allow the school district to levy property taxes or give the mayor veto power over the Board of School Committee? All these questions, plus dozens more, could be answered if the city votes to create a charter commission this fall.

The Board of Aldermen voted Tuesday to put a question on the Sept. 11 state primary ballot asking residents whether they want to create the commission. The last charter commission was in place in 2002. The package of changes — which included making city elections partisan, eliminating the at-large positions on city boards and changing the welfare commissioner post from an elected office to an appointed department head position — failed to pass when voted on the following year.

The previous charter commission, working in 1995, brought many city charter changes, including the at-large positions, nonpartisan elections and giving more power to the mayor's office.

If the charter commission item passes, another election would be held to name its members. Last time, 75 candidates vied for a chance to rewrite city policy.

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ALDERMEN ALSO ratified the concession deal made with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the union that represents Welfare Department employees. The deal, similar to those made with nearly all other city unions, requires employees to pay more of their health insurance costs.

Although the concessions create about $20,000 in savings for taxpayers next year, Alderman Levasseur wants to trim more from the Welfare Department budget. During Tuesday's Committee on Human Resources meeting, he grilled Welfare Commissioner Paul Martineau about why nearly 70 percent of his department budget goes to salaries instead of to services for the poor.

Martineau said he has a 10-year record of cutting spending and returning money to the taxpayers. His salaries are not the result of excessive spending, he said, but rather the city's Yarger Decker employee pay system, which requires regular pay increases based on merit and seniority.

Levasseur said he sees no reason for the number of staff now in the Welfare Department and will propose cutting $500,000 from its budget.

“I'm glad we're only giving out $300,000 a year, but I don't think he has to spend $700,000 to do so,” said Levasseur. “There has to be a more efficient way to do it. I don't think that's what we're getting from his department.”

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THIS WEEKEND, PORTSMOUTH closed its downtown streets for its annual Market Square Day celebration. Later this summer, the city will close a portion of Pleasant Street near Market Square on Saturdays from 5 to 9:30 p.m. for events and concerts in the street. These events were started as a way to bring families downtown to spend money in the city's restaurants and stores.

While Manchester has street closures for parades and the fall chili festival, the city's Economic Development Office began looking at closing a small portion of Hanover Street near the intersection with Elm Street to create an inviting, pedestrian-friendly area where residents could grab a bite to eat outside, see performers and shop.

What city leaders didn't expect was the big thumbs down local merchants gave the idea.

In a meeting with the city, businesses were concerned that closing the street would actually hurt their bottom line, not help it. Some people questioned how cars would get to the Citizens Bank garage, and others worried about other costs, such as police details, fire prevention and loss of parking revenue.

Alderman Garth Corriveau said he was disappointed the idea was so poorly received and asked the city to continue working with businesses to come up with a plan that works for everyone.

“Amazingly, this is one of the issues when I speak with young people in the city they mention all the time,” said Corriveau.

Corriveau wasn't alone. Other aldermen said they, too, would like a pedestrian-only street, even if it was small and for a few weekends out of the year. The proposal is headed to the new Committee on Job Creation, which will discuss a pilot program with businesses.

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