The Jaffrey-Rindge Cooperative School Board debated Monday on the best way to present a multi-million dollar project to build a new career and technical education center at Conant Middle High School.

The district has proposed an addition to the school entrance, which would become new classroom space for the existing building trades program, while adding programs for culinary and public safety. The district is applying for state assistance on the building project, which is estimated to cost a total of about $22.9 million.

Superintendent Reuben Duncan explained that the state, in the past, has paid for similar CTE projects by covering about 75% of allowable costs – that does not include some aspects, such as site work. One of the draft articles the board considered essentially covered that scenario, authorizing the district to accept not less than $16.046 million from the New Hampshire Regional Career and Technical Education fund, with the district bonding the remaining $6,849,000.

The issue at hand, however, Duncan explained, was that while the 75% has been typical, it is not guaranteed. The board feared that the wording of accepting “not less” than $16,046,000 would scupper the project if the state contributed some lesser percentage, which could be as low as 50%. The board considered another draft, which covered that scenario, with not less than $10,697,500 from state CTE funding, and bonding up to $12,197,500.

Board Chair Chris Ratcliffe said he wasn’t in favor of putting forth the “worst-case” article, noting that a $6.8 million bond was already a big number to put before voters.

“I think the bond number is important. My personal opinion is, we’ve been talking about the 75% long enough, and it’s been, ‘Well, it’s not actually 75%, because of site costs,’ which is all things we’ve learned along the way, but that cost has slowly crept up to close to $7 million, which is a big number,” Ratcliffe said. “And to me, putting a number of $12 million on the article would not be a good idea. It has the appearance of being disingenuous.”

However, Ratcliffe acknowledged that there needed to be some flexibility allowed in acceptance of state funds, saying he did not want to see a project that the district has been working on for close to two years derailed by legal language.

The board discussed several possibilities, including changing the language to allow “up to,” rather than “not less than” $16,046,000 to be accepted from the state, or allowing the $16,046,000 to be raised by grants, donations or other funding.

School Board member John McCarthy questioned that if the state did not give the full 75%, if there was a possibility of holding a special district meeting, or holding the project a year to allow for an additional vote the following March. Duncan said both were a possibility.

The board did not come to a conclusion on Monday, instead tasking district officials to consult with the district lawyer and the Department of Revenue and Bond Administration about what language would be legally allowed.

The board did, however, unanimously agree to accept the draft of the first option – with 75% of the cost covered by the state – to be forwarded to the district’s upcoming budget hearing for public discussion.

Proposed budget a 4.13% increase

The proposed budget for the 2025-2026 school year is $33,760,452. That represents about a $1.3 million, or 4.13% increase from the current budget, including increases to teacher pay approved by voters in the collective bargaining agreement.

The district was able to return about $1.8 million to the towns last year, which was used for tax relief. Duncan said that a significant portion of that – about $800,000 – was from unfilled positions in the special education department.

“It’s not that we didn’t need those roles, and it’s not that we wouldn’t have filled them had we been able to last year,” Duncan said.

There were multiple reductions in the proposed budget, including removing about $514,692 from student services, stipends for some school supports of about $80,739, $285,000 in reductions from how the district is budgeting for currently open positions and keeping school budgets flat.

Duncan said the budget allowed the same amount of programming and staff for the coming year, including allowing the possibility of completely filling all open positions.

Should the budget fail at the polls, the default budget is $33,858,458. The default budget is the current budget, including increases designated by law or approved at previous district meetings, such as collective bargaining agreements, and decreased by certain one-time payments.

The estimated tax impact of passing the budget is a tax increase of $3.45 per $1,000 of assessed value for Jaffrey and and increase of $2.24 per $1,000 of assessed value for Rindge.

Under the default, the tax impact is estimated to be $3.58 per $1,000 for Jaffrey and $2.34 per $1,000 for Rindge.

The warrant also contains a two-year collective bargaining agreement, outlining pay increases and benefits for staff. The agreement, reached between the district and the Jaffrey-Rindge Education Association, would include an increase of $20,776 in the coming years, and $20,774 in the following year. This represents a 2 cent per $1,000 of assessment tax impact in Jaffrey, and a penny for Rindge.

The district is also proposing $50,000 for the expendable trust fund for special education contingency fund. The funds would come from the unexpended funds at the end of the year.

Similarly, if funds are available at the end of the year, the district proposes to use up to $400,000 from the fund balance for the building maintenance fund. Upcoming facilities work includes window replacements at Jaffrey Grade School, parking lot lights for the Conant Middle High School, track resurfacing and replacing the canopy structure at the Rindge Memorial School.

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