The Jaffrey-Rindge School Board will be looking at long-term non-budget funding solutions for their pre-school and athletics programs in the coming months.

During its meeting on Monday, the board discussed how it should approach funding pre-school and athletics, two areas which are planned to face reductions in the coming year under the district’s current default budget.

Chair Lisa Wiley said in discussions about public priorities following elections this year, preschool and athletics were two areas that stood out based on community feedback.

“We have been given a mandate from the public,” Wiley said. “We have to find a way to make this happen. These topics are really community-driven.”

Wiley said she would like the board to look at potential ways to fund those areas that did not rely on the budget, noting that the district has operated in a default budget three out of the last five years.

Wiley said that activities and athletics were “crucial to engagement, attendance, and student achievement,” and that preschool has shown value in getting students ready for school, and reduced the need for paraprofessional support in early grades.

“The questions at this point are not, ‘Are these programs valuable?’ or ‘What do we remove to keep them?'” Wiley said. She proposed the board form two short-term committees that would focus on seeking funding avenues for athletics and preschool that don’t rely on the operating budget. She suggested the committees include members of the school board, faculty, or administration, and community members, and have a “goal to bring back to the board viable solutions to fund these two programs for the next five years.”

Wiley suggested that the board could pause other regular committee work to capitalize on the momentum from the election on these two issues.

Board member Christine Pressman said she understood the value in those conversations, but said there were some committees that should not be paused, such as the finance committee.

The board discussed some of the suggestions that had already been brought up by the community, including charging for participation in preschool or sports.

Pressman pointed out that paying for preschool was not affordable to every family. She said she would like to hear from a wider range of community voices on the committee.

The board briefly discussed ways to address affordability, such as a scholarship fund or pay scale.

The board voted unanimously, in two separate votes, to direct the district superintendent to gather information about models for sustainable payments to support continued preschool or athletics, with the intent to hold informational meetings with the public this summer, following graduation.

Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.