Four members of the public attended the first of two required public hearings on a proposed amended budget cap petition warrant article at Conant Middle High School on Monday night. A second hearing is scheduled for Thursday evening in Rindge.
The original petition warrant article called for a school budget cap, which would limit the budget based on student average daily membership. The proposed cap would have allowed a budget of $24,944 per pupil multiplied by the district’s average daily membership on Oct. 1. The article allows for inflation, up to the percentage identified by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Based on current enrollment, the cap would have limited the proposed budget for the upcoming year to approximately $27.1 million.
Similar warrant articles, many of which are based on a template provided by the Grantham-based School District Governance Association of New Hampshire, have failed in districts around the state in recent years. Voters in ConVal and Wilton-Lyndeborough defeated similar articles in 2025, and Mascenic voters rejected a budget cap article in 2024.
State-level attempts to mandate school budget caps through HB 675 were defeated in the New Hampshire House in early 2026.
At the district’s deliberative session in February, the article was amended to change the amount per pupil from $24,944 to $100,000. The amendment passed with 315 voting yes, 58 voting no. The article, as amended, was placed on the March warrant.
At the hearing, Jaffrey resident Jim Ladine asked the board whether the amendment to change the per-pupil amount was “an act of spite.”
Board member Lisa Wiley responded that the amendment to the article was probably introduced “as a way of getting rid of it.”
State law requires that public hearings be held before a budget cap is enacted.
The Rindge hearing will be held on Thursday, Feb. 19, at 6 p.m. at the Rindge Memorial School Cafeteria.