The Jaffrey-Rindge School District received word Friday that it had not been awarded a grant from the state that would have funded the extended day program at Jaffrey Grade School and the middle school.

Superintendent of Schools Reuben Duncan said the news was unfortunate and that he was planning meetings with the School Board this week to discuss “all possibilities.”

The $185,000 grant would have allowed the JGS and JRMS programs to extend into the 2016-2017 school year. This year marked the end of a five-year grant awarded to the district to fund its afterschool programs.

“I’ve given up hope on the grant, but not on the program,” said Kathy Batchelder, director of the afterschool program. “I’m ever the optimist.”

JGS has 86 registered students and JRMS has 59 students, she said. There is no cost for the Jaffrey program.

“The trick,” said Batchelder, “is coming up with the front money. I have to pay the staff.” Because the district’s budget for the 2016-2017 year has been approved, she said she will focus on fundraising. Batchelder’s salary is paid for by the grant, which ends June 30.

She estimated that, at its leanest, the program could serve 100 students in the 2016-17 year for $135,000.

Part of the problem, Batchelder said, is changing the public’s perception about afterschool programs. “We need to convince taxpayers that the program is not babysitting,” she said. “It promotes social skills and increases students grades.”

It is also a question of economics. Forty-two percent of students at JGS receive free or reduced lunches; that number is 32 percent in Rindge.

While both Rindge Memorial School and Jaffrey Grade School have afterschool programs, only Jaffrey sought funding into a sixth year.

The extended day program in Rindge, which operates on a fee model, now has the capability to sustain itself, said Recreation Director Tim Goodwin. “That was our plan,” he said. “To be self-sustaining in the sixth year.”

Rindge currently averages 2o children each morning and 30 each afternoon. Parents pay $3 per child per day in the morning and $10 per day per child in the afternoon.

Michele Nuttle can be reached at 924-7172, ext. 234, or at mnuttle@ledgertranscript.com.