The Jaffrey-Rindge Cooperative School District board voted 6-1 to approve a 2026-27 operating budget that eliminates several administrative and teaching positions and scales back athletics, early childhood programs and student support services. Those reductions cut more than $1.6 million from the proposed budget.
Those cuts, combined with grants, get the district to the needed $1.8 million in reductions for the 2026-27 school year.
Board member Jared Reini was the sole dissent.
Superintendent Reuben Duncan presented the revised proposal at the board’s meeting Monday, April 6, describing it “as balanced as I could put together” after weeks of community forums, staff input and feedback from board members.
This comes after voters failed to pass a proposed budget of $33.5 million by 68 votes on March 10. That sent the district into a default budget of $31.99 million.
The cuts include the elimination of the assistant superintendent and assistant principal positions, an athletic trainer, library media associates, an art teacher and a math teacher at Conant Middle High School, a district-wide behavior teacher and four elementary teaching positions. The four elementary cuts will reduce the district’s 4-year-old pre-K program from its current expanded model back to two classrooms — the same level maintained during the 2020-21 school year before federal ESSER grant funds allowed the program to grow. Two additional pre-K teaching positions will be retained through grant funding.
“The priorities here that I heard was that we did not want to lose 4-year-old full-day pre-K,” Duncan said. “That we, at the very least, wanted to make sure that we were at the levels that we were at when we first started to put that in place around COVID times.”
The district’s athletics and activities budget will be reduced by $150,000, which, combined with the elimination of the athletic trainer position, represents roughly $230,000 in cuts to that area. Duncan said varsity sports transportation would be prioritized, while middle school programming may shift toward an intramural model or partnerships with neighboring schools.
“If we’re really focusing on varsity, there’s going to have to be a lot of scheduling,” Duncan said. “That’s going to take a lot of time to work with the NHIAA and with these other schools to possibly get … as an example, could be getting the girls’ varsity and the boys’ varsity to play at the exact same time, so they’re taking the same vehicle. That may be a possibility.”
The Little Orioles Center, the district’s on-site childcare program, will see a $75,000 reduction, which officials said would require a staffing model change rather than closure. The superintendent said the district is already exploring partnerships and outside organizations that could eventually take the program off the district’s books entirely.
To offset some of the reductions, the district will use approximately $300,000 in grant funds, including money from the federal Safe and Secure Schools grant and IDEA funding, to support positions that would otherwise have been cut.
School Board members raised concerns about the loss of the CMHS math teacher, with some suggesting a return to a part-time athletic director could free up funds to restore the teaching position. The superintendent pushed back, warning that the athletics and activities program in its reduced form would require substantial administrative management and that further cuts could have unintended consequences. Conant Middle High School will go from seven math teachers to six under the approved budget.
“This is not sustainable. We’re pulling monies from different places and relying on grants to fund things. That’s the bigger conversation we have to have for the 2027-28 budget.”
Board CHair Lisa Wiley
The superintendent also emphasized that the restorative classroom program, while reduced by one classroom, is not being eliminated. He noted the district currently has no students enrolled in the second classroom, making the reduction practical for this year, and cited data showing the program saved the district more than $600,000 in its first year alone by keeping students from requiring costly out-of-district placements.
Board member Chris Ratcliffe said the proposal represented “a true compromise” that preserved programs in reduced form rather than eliminating them outright. “A lot of times the right compromise leaves everyone generally pretty unhappy,” he said, “especially if it’s forced.”
Several board members and the superintendent acknowledged the budget reflects broader structural pressures that will require ongoing attention. State education funding has declined by an estimated 20-25% since 2011, and multiple programs now rely on competitive or time-limited federal grants.
“This is not sustainable,” said board chair Lisa Wiley. “We’re pulling monies from different places and relying on grants to fund things. That’s the bigger conversation we have to have for the 2027-28 budget.”
During public comment, Alicia Stenersen of Jaffrey challenged residents who she said cited rising property taxes to justify supporting the budget cuts.
“You can’t claim to care about children while also voting for representation that systematically undermines the very systems that serve our children in our community,” she said. “This isn’t about taxes. It’s about priorities. And right now, this community is making a choice, and that choice is coming at the expense of its children.”
Following the budget vote, Jaffrey resident John McCarthy thanked the board for its work and expressing support for retaining the activities director position. He described the after-school activities program, which he said adds three to four hours to the school day at relatively low cost, as essential to what makes Conant Middle High School award-winning.
“For many kids, it’s probably the most important three or four hours,” he said.
Jaffrey resident Nick Hill urged the board to quickly develop and communicate a clear picture of what athletics and activities will look like next year. “We lost a few athletes last year, and I expect to lose more athletes next year if we don’t have some sort of proposal or idea of what that’s going to look like,” he said.
Before calling the vote, Wiley acknowledged the weight of the decision. “This is $1.8 million and this is people’s lives,” she said.
Calendar updates
The board also made modifications to the 2025-26 calendar, setting June 18 as the final day of school. The move includes adding May 22 back in as a full school day. This change runs on the assumption that the district will not exceed its allowed number of snow days through the remainder of the school year.
Board members also reviewed the 2027-28 school calendar. Duncan said there was a desire not to end the school year as late as in previous years.
Kiln purchase
Board members also approved the purchase and installation of a new kiln for CMHS. The purchase had already been approved through the Durant Fund, but unexpected costs of $1,154.35 had come up. The board approved the extra expenditure.
The board next meets at 6:30 p.m. April 20 at Conant Auditorium.
