The Jaffrey-Rindge School Board discussed its proposed budget during a meeting on Monday, focusing in part on which expenses should be included in the regular operating budget after being funded this year through unreserved fund balance.
Last year, the district voters approved a budget that had been reduced by $3 million at the deliberative session. The School Board initially cut several areas of the budget completely, but after community feedback, the board restored some areas, such as sports and activities, and the district’s 4-year-old pre-school program, using unreserved fund balance.
This year, the board is seeking to return some of those programs to the regular operating budget.
During Monday’s meeting, the board discussed the current budget proposal of $33.5 million. This is slightly less than the budget the board initially proposed last year, which was $33.76, but $2.74 million more than the budget eventually adopted by voters.
The district’s default budget, which is calculated based on the prior year’s budget plus legally required increases and minus one-time expenses, is $31.99 million.
Superintendent Reuben Duncan said the proposed budget includes funding for sports, activities, and the preschool program. He was also tasked with identifying approximately $300,000 in reductions to meet the board’s $33.5 million target.
Duncan said that process is ongoing, but said that he and district staff have already identified about $50,000 in potential cuts that would not affect staffing levels.
“Not in areas I think would be advisable, but we could do it,” Duncan said.
He said the remaining $250,000 would likely be personnel related.
“Saying where that would be I think would be too premature,” he said.
Duncan said a scenario where the default budget was put into place was “an entirely different world.”
Warrant articles
The district is also considering several draft warrant articles this year, including an anticipated article for a three-year collective bargaining agreement that has not yet been finalized.
Another proposed warrant article would ask voters whether to adopt the provisions of RSA 194-D, which allows school districts to participate in open enrollment. The article would permit students from outside the district to enroll in Jaffrey-Rindge schools, while prohibiting district students from enrolling elsewhere through open enrollment.
Under the proposal, the district would accept up to 300 students from outside the district, from kindergarten through senior year of high school.
School Board Chair Lisa Wiley said she has seen several other school districts planning similar warrant articles this year, noting that those proposals also allow incoming students while restricting outgoing enrollments.
The district has two proposed articles for capital reserve funds, including the creation of a new fund.
A draft of Article VI calls for establishing an Employee Benefits Capital Reserve Fund, which would be used to help cover certain employee benefit costs. Eligible uses would include health insurance reimbursements and assessments, costs associated with employees moving to higher-cost plans, and severance benefits.
The proposal calls for funding the reserve with $25,000 from the district’s end-of-year balance from the 2025–26 budget.
The district is also proposing to add $350,000 to its capital reserve fund for the reconstruction and repair of real estate, buildings and capital equipment.
If approved, the additional funding for the capital reserve would result in an estimated tax increase of 17 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value in Jaffrey and 13 cents per $1,000 in Rindge.
The district’s budget hearing is scheduled for Jan. 15 at 6:30 p.m. at Rindge Memorial School. The warrant articles will be finalized for the deliberative session.