The ConVal School District presented an initial proposed budget of $60,717,784 for the 2026-2027 school year, representing an increase of 1.4%, or $844,373 over last year’s budget.

“This is within $30,000 of what voters were expecting, so a lot of work went into making this happen,” said ConVal Business Administrator Neal Cass

At the Dec. 3 school board meeting, which had been rescheduled due to snow, Cass reported that salaries and benefits will comprise over 75% of the school budget, with 49% represented by salaries, 26.4% represented by benefits, for a total of $45,726,531.

Staff benefits came in at $538,417 lower than in 2025-2026.

“Benefits were down by a significant amount this year, which is a nice thing to be able to say,” Cass said.

Cass said the district saved on benefits by giving staff the option of a less expensive, higher deductible plan, which many staff members chose.

“We saved $100,000 with the addition of the high deductible plan,” Cass said.

Total increase for salaries in 2026-2027 is $971,864, which represents the second year of the negotiated contract with the ConVal Education Association.

Capital projects in the district for the next school year include new boilers for Hancock and Greenfield elementary schools and a new roof for Peterborough Elementary School.

Cass said the district will see a substantial decrease in special education tuition and next year as well as a decrease in general education tuition.

The budget includes the estimated numbers for the new bus contract.

Cass said “open items” in the budget include funding of the trust funds, determination of whether fund balance will be used to offset taxes, and the return of the district’s recently reimbursed legal fees to district taxpayers.

In late October, after the state Supreme Court ruled in favor of ConVal and 17 other plaintiffs suing the state of New Hampshire over inadequate per-pupil funding in public schools, the district was refunded $666,227.90 in legal fees. The ConVal School Board is currently evaluating the most effective way to return the amount to the taxpayers.

“The district assessment will be determined when all these items are finalized,” Cass said. “We will vote on the budget at the next meeting.”

The district’s next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 16.

Critical stipends approved

Superintendent Ann Forrest requested the board approve expenditures for critical shortage stipends for four open positions in the district.

The stipends are used to attract candidates to essential positions that remain unfilled.

“This is our second year without an engineering teacher, and we would really like to see that back at ConVal,” Forrest said.

Forrest said attracting an engineering teacher is challenging because “anyone qualified to teach engineering can obviously earn more in the private sector.”

Forrest also requested critical shortage stipends for up to three special educators who have certification in emotional behavioral disorders.

“This would prevent us from having to place students out of district,” Forrest said.

The board approved a $5000 stipend for each open position.