The Mascenic School District superintendent presented the proposed budget of $23.9 million to the district on Tuesday at a sparsely attended hearing at Mascenic Regional High School.

The proposed budget is a $1.9 million or 8.75% increase from the current budget, which is a default budget. The previous year was also a default budget for Mascenic, and Superintendent Liz Pogorzelski said she was aware of that fact when crafting the budget.

“Staff is cognizant that this is the second year in a default,” Pogorzelski said. The staff had worked to eliminate several non-essential items from drafts of the budget, and she said the final draft was “not a revolutionary budget.”

“While we want the sky, moon and stars, we’re not asking for it,” she said.

Because it has been in default for several years, the district has already reduced facilities improvements to those critical for safety. The district also has had to forgo implementing an alternative program at Mascenic for students who would do better in a less traditional school setting, as well as eliminating staff positions, including a technology integrator, a Title I tutor and a fifth grade social studies teacher, Pogorzelski said.

The default for the coming year is $23.4 million, or $467,687 less than the proposed budget.

While the overall budget is up $1.9 million, Business Administrator Rachel Anderson said some of that increase will be covered by increases in funding from other areas, including from Fiscal Disparity Grants and an increase in adequacy aid from a rise in the student population. The actual increase faced by voters will be about $1.5 million, or a 6.5% increase.

The estimated tax impact of the budget, without warrant articles, for a home valued at $350,000, would be about $42 per month for New Ipswich residents and $48 for Greenville residents.

Article seeks to return building trades

The district has a warrant article this year, separate from the budget, that would reinstate a construction trades program at Mascenic Regional High School.

The article asks for $192,000 to reinstate the program. Mascenic once housed a construction trades program, but for the past seven or eight years, it has relied on a partnership with Jaffrey-Rindge Cooperative School District to send students to that district’s construction program. However, Jaffrey-Rindge does not have a construction trades program this year, after being unable to fill the teaching position, and has proposed cutting the program in the coming year’s budget.

Pogorzelski said the $192,000 in the warrant article would cover staff salaries and benefits, as well as materials for the program.

Other warrant articles

The district also is proposing two articles for efficiency studies.

The first is $26,000 for a feasibility study on building consolidation. The district owns three school buildings and the SAU offices.

The second study, projected to cost $10,000, would scrutinize SAU staffing efficiency.

The district is also planning for new open-enrollment policies, which allow students to attend public school districts outside of where they live. Pogorzelski said the law would require the home school district to pay tuition to the receiving school. The district is proposing an article that would allow Mascenic to receive students up to 10% of its student population, but to send 0% of its population — or prohibit district students from enrolling elsewhere — in what Pogorzelski said was a current “loophole” in the system.

The district is also planning about $100,000 for the possibility of having to pay students’ tuition if the article does not pass.

The district also has a three-year collective bargaining agreement with the Mascenic Educational Support Staff Association, which includes paraprofessional educators. The first year of the agreement would increase the budget by $149,706.

The district plans to use end-of-year unspent funds for 2025-26 to add to three of the district’s capital reserve funds: $150,000 for building maintenance, $25,000 for food service, and $35,000 for technology.

Tuesday’s meeting was recorded and is expected to be posted to the MascenicMedia YouTube page.