Short-Term Cuts, Long-Term Costs: The Risk of Underfunding Schools  

When residents of Jaffrey and Rindge gather for the upcoming school deliberative session a few months from now, the school budget will once again take center stage. Proposals to slash district funding utilizing old and new strategies are likely already being composed. To many residents who feel fed up with rising costs and the disproportionate contributions toward public education between taxpayers and the state, this may seem like a way to cut taxes in the short term. But those advocating reductions must understand the potential legal and financial consequences of their actions.

Public schools are not optional. Districts are bound by state and federal mandates on everything from instructional hours to transportation to special education services. These aren’t suggestions; they are obligations. If a budget leaves our district unable to comply, lawsuits will follow — and when they do, the district will lose. The bill won’t fall on Concord. It will fall on Jaffrey and Rindge taxpayers.

Mandates Are Not Negotiable

When a student with disabilities doesn’t receive legally required services, families can and do sue under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Courts have consistently ruled in favor of parents, requiring districts to pay for private school placements when public schools fall short. Those placements are not cheap: research shows that private day placements average around $64,000 per student per year, and residential placements can exceed $130,000 — all far above the cost of public education. Even before a verdict, just defending a case can drain tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees.

If cuts reduce staff below state minimums, leave classrooms without certified teachers, or shortchange transportation, the same risk applies: lawsuits, court orders, and emergency fixes paid out of our property taxes.

The Local Taxpayer Consequences

Those who argue that cutting the school budget “saves money” are selling a false economy. In reality:

  • Legal fees and settlements come directly from district and town funds.
  • Court-ordered reimbursements for services or tuition fall straight onto the local tax base.
  • Emergency mid-year hiring to restore eliminated programs is costlier than doing it right the first time.
  • Hidden costs — like weaker credit ratings and higher borrowing rates — compound the damage.

Put plainly: you can trim dollars from the school budget today, but if it leads to mandate violations, you’ve only guaranteed larger tax bills tomorrow.

Courts Have Made It Clear

New Hampshire courts have repeatedly affirmed that education funding is a constitutional duty. From the Claremont decisions of the 1990s to the more recent ConVal and Rand cases, judges have underscored that when funding falls short, the law sides with students and families, not budget cutters. When districts are pushed into noncompliance, they lose, and local taxpayers pay.

The Responsibility of Local Officials

Our local Select Boards have taken to distancing themselves from school issues, preferring to oppose budgets quietly while avoiding responsibility for decisions and their consequences – framing matters of the district as separate from matters of the towns. But they cannot have it both ways. If they influence or encourage the passage of an underfunded budget, and that budget leaves the district in violation of mandates, the legal liability will not stop at the school board. Evidence will show who supported public education and who did not.

This is not a threat. It is reality. Destabilizing the school budget does not just weaken our classrooms; it places the towns of Jaffrey and Rindge in legal jeopardy and financial peril.

If our officials care at all about education — and for the students, families, and taxpayers they represent — they should stop undermining the school board, start engaging with the complexities of school finance, and work to support, not sabotage, the education of our children. Instead of admiring the problem or ignoring it altogether, they should engage directly with our state legislators to address New Hampshire’s unfair education funding formula and ensure towns like ours aren’t left carrying an impossible burden.

Governing isn’t supposed to be convenient. The sidelines are for benchwarmers and bystanders, not elected representatives of a municipality responsible for providing solutions to problems and safeguarding futures.  

The way forward is simple: support our schools or we will all pay the price.

Michael Perrault

Rindge, NH

Michael Perrault is a parent, taxpayer, small business owner and co-chair of Working Together for Jaffrey-Rindge.