The Wilton-Lyndeborough Cooperative School District has scheduled a Special District Meeting for November, to ask residents for additional funds to cover a budget shortfall.
Currently, the district is set to go over certain budget items by about $305,000, according to district Superintendent Bryan Lane in a report to the School Board posted on the district website.
There are savings in other areas of the budget, meaning the total shortfall is about $45,000.
On Nov. 9, the district will be asking residents to approve an additional $287,071 to the budget. However, the additional funds won’t be from taxation.
The district, like all districts in New Hampshire, is receiving additional education grants and special education aid allocated in the state budget, which was passed in late September after being stalled for several months due to a gubernatorial veto. The Wilton-Lyndeborough District is expecting to receive about $297,000 in additional adequacy aid and special education assistance.
Some years, when districts get additional revenue, it is specifically slated for lowering the tax rate, but this revenue doesn’t come with those restrictions, Lane said.
The majority of the budget shortfall is from unanticipated costs created by changes in the district’s staffing and special education needs.
About $18,400 of the shortfall is from funds not budgeted in the 2019-20 budget. The new teacher orientation, which cost about $8,900, summer custodial work, which cost about $7,500 and the Kindergarten screening, which cost about $2,000, all were not accounted for in the budget. The cost of the teacher orientation will be partially offset by a $5,900 grant.
The majority of the shortfall is in unanticipated costs, including the hiring of three new staff members to meet the needs of new special education students in the district. The district only became aware of those costs after the budget was created.
About $142,000 of the shortfall is related to special education expenses, including three new staff members and increasing a part-time position to account for two new students in the district. The district hired a registered behavior technician, a licensed practical nurse and an additional paraprofessional educator, and increased an existing registered behavior technician from a 175-days-per-year position to 260, among other increases.
The other large factor in the shortfall is changes in insurance and the district’s contributions to the state’s retirement system, caused by changes in staffing or their insurance plans.
The changes in insurance and staffing account for about $144,000 in under-budgeting.
A public hearing on the proposed change in education funding will be held Thursday, Oct. 24, at the Wilton-Lyndeborough Cooperative Middle/High School at 6 p.m. The Special District Meeting is scheduled for Nov. 9 at 9 a.m. at the Wilton-Lyndeborough Cooperative Middle/High School.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.