All Jaffrey-Rindge district articles passed at the polls on Tuesday, including the proposed $31.86 million budget, and Nathan Flowers lost his School Board seat from Jaffrey.

The proposed budget came in slightly under the default, which reflects last year’s budget, plus contracted increases and minus one-time expenses, and would have gone into place should the proposed have failed to pass. The default was $31.9 million.

The budget received support in both towns, with a total of 1,156 in support and 452 against.

The district’s collective bargaining agreement with the Jaffrey-Rindge Education Association was more controversial. Although it did pass, it did so by the slimmest margin of the day, and didn’t gain majority support in Rindge. The bargaining agreement covers three years of pay increases for the district’s teachers, with estimated increases of $557,275 in 2024-2025, $513,259 in 2025-2026 and $500,836 in 2026-2027.

Jaffrey voters supported the agreement in a 391-258 vote, while Rindge voters were against it 511-466. In the end, Jaffrey supporters pushed the vote over the edge, and the article passed 857-769.

Larry Cleveland of Rindge, who was campaigning outside the polls at Rindge Memorial School on Tuesday, said he was concerned most about school spending.

“The school is out of control,” Cleveland said. “I’m not sure how we have 200 less kids and the budget keeps going up – it just doesn’t make sense.”

Voters supported placing $50,000 in an expendable trust fund for special education contingencies, such as a student moving into the district mid-year with specialized needs. The vote passed 948-666 overall.

A petition article which originally proposed to auction off a lot owned by the district on Route 202 was reworked during deliberative session to “express an advisory view that the School Board retain ownership” of the lot. The revised article was supported by both towns, and passed with 974 yes votes to 628 no votes overall.

Pressman, Wiley return to board; Flowers unseated

For Jaffrey School board seats, Christine Pressman ran unopposed for a three-year term and will be returning after gaining 559 votes.

Incumbent Nathan Flowers was unseated by challenger Sandra Stewart for a one-year position, with Flowers gaining 219 votes to Stewart’s 378. In Rindge, incumbent Lisa Wiley fended off challenger Christopher Sendelbach in a 511-313 vote.

Moderator Robert Schaumann will be returning for another term after running unopposed, and gained 556 votes in Jaffrey and 759 in Rindge.

Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.