The Mascenic School District spent its second year in a row under a default budget, after voters defeated the proposed budget at the polls on March 11.
The default – set at $21.96 million – was $362,654 lower than the district’s proposed budget of $22.34 million.
New Ipswich voters were the deciding factor in the vote, with 424 voting yes on the budget, compared to 508 against. While Greenville voters supported the budget in an 83-66 vote, it was not enough to close the gap.
Additions in the proposed budget included increasing a librarian position from part-time to full-time at Highbridge Hill Elementary, adding a part-time reading and writing teacher at Highbridge, adding summer hours for a social worker, adding a new behavior technician, increasing groundskeeper hours and adding a new special education personal assistant.
“That has an impact,” Superintendent Liz Pogorzelski said in the immediate aftermath of the vote. “Our budget managers have been working to find the best way forward – how do we optimize what we have to do what’s best for the kids in our community?”
A default budget carries forward the previous year’s spending level, with only legally required increases such as contractual obligations and voter-approved raises. The default budget for 2026 was more than the 2025 budget by about $679,374, but was less than the budget originally proposed by the School Board.
Aside from the budget, New Ipswich’s closest vote was on the collective bargaining agreement with the Mascenic Education Association, which covers three years of salary and benefits increases. New Ipswich voted 482-449 in support of the contract, and Greenville voted 94-55 in support.