The Jaffrey-Rindge School District is proposing a budget of $30.7 million, a $3.6 million increase, with budget items aimed at making up for two years of inflation while the district operated under a default this year, as well as two new administrative positions that include a second elementary school assistant principal.

Should the budget not pass, the district’s default budget would be $29.8 million. The difference between the proposed budget and the default is about $854,479, or 2.86 percent.

Among cost drivers in the proposed budget are transportation increases and special education costs. The district has entered a new transportation contract after the previous five-year contract ended.

Special education costs are up by about $585,000, which include additional out-of-district placements and increased tuition costs. Facilities and utilities costs are also up, about $170,000.

District Communication Coordinator Nick Handy said the School Board has traditionally not specified where cuts would be made if the district budget failed, but Superintendent Reuben Duncan said it would likely involve staffing or programming cuts, because staffing makes up the majority of the budget costs.

The 2022-2023 budget did not pass at the polls last year, leaving the current approved budget the default budget of $27.1 million. When the budget failed, the district was faced with cutting seven teacher positions. Duncan said the district was able to cut positions through attrition, losing teachers who had either retired or moved to another career, and avoided cutting programming by switching to a block scheduling model.

“Now, if we have to consider a second default, we don’t have that same capacity,” Duncan said. “We can’t make another massive structural shift – we don’t have that card to play again.”

In previous years, salaries and benefits represented between 75 and 80 percent of the district’s budget, but due to the previous reductions, represents about 70 percent of the overall budget proposal.

Health insurance costs are expected to increase by about 3.1 percent, or approximately $92,000.

Additional positions proposed

Among the proposed increases are three new staff positions, including a new elementary school assistant principal. Currently, the district’s two elementary schools, Rindge Memorial and Jaffrey Grade School, share a single assistant principal between them. The cost for salary and benefits of the proposed position is $135,000 annually.

“We have seen an uptick in challenging behaviors,” Duncan said. “We, like many districts, are still trying to stabilize from COVID, and we are seeing a higher degree of social-emotional difficulty at younger ages.”

Duncan said the district would be seeking a candidate with a special education background, as that’s another area the district hopes to focus on. There has been an increase this year of students who were sent out-of-district for special needs, from 12 to 17. These placements are expensive, Duncan said, and the district is striving to develop programs that allow those students to stay in their home district, but need the staffing to support it.

In addition to the assistant principal position, the budget includes an additional paraprofessional position, at a cost of about $40,000 for salary and benefits.

The district also plans to add a combined out-of-district and preschool coordinator, at a cost of $104,000 in salary and benefits. The position will work with students who need to receive education out-of-district, but also help coordinate the district’s preschool program, which has expanded this year by nearly double the amount of students, with 90 enrolled across both district towns. While not yet considered universal preschool, the district was able to accommodate all residents who wished to enroll in preschool without a waiting list this year.

Other warrant items

In warrant articles separate from the budget expected to be on the ballot this year, the district is proposing additions to capital reserve funds.

Article 5 proposes to raise and appropriate $400,000 for the Building Maintenance Capital Reserve Fund raised by taxation. The fund, which currently has about $16,000, is used for the construction and repair of district buildings and equipment. In the past year, the district used almost all of the previously raised funds for improvements to the air quality in Conant High School, replacing exterior ramps at Rindge Memorial School and door replacements.

If approved, the funds would be for further door and window replacements, including upgrading accessibility and improving heat and cooling retention.

In a separate article, the district is requesting to use unexpended funds from the 2022-2023 school year to add $150,000 to the Special Education Contingency Fund, which is used to pay for unexpected costs of educating special education students, such as paying for out-of-district tuition, transportation or additional staffing.

Board to consider pre-purchasing equipment

The School Board will be reviewing a list of one-time purchases for items such as furniture replacements and technology upgrades during a Jan. 9 meeting.

Duncan said that none of the proposed purchases – which total $329,400 – are included in the current proposed budget for 2023-2024. If the board chooses not to use this year’s funds for those purchases, Duncan said there is at least one item that will have to move to the proposed budget, a $175,000 proposal to replace student laptops.

Under the current default budget, the district did not replace several grades worth of laptops, as was scheduled, and Duncan said the district needs to address both last year’s and this year’s technology upgrades.

At the same meeting, the board is also scheduled to finalize a three-year agreement with district support staff. The agreement between the support staff association and the School Board has yet to be ratified but is expected to be on the warrant in March, after board approval.

The board is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the budget on Jan. 12 at 6:30  p.m., at the Conant High School Library Classroom.

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