Manchester school board warns language in budget trailer bill could cost city schools $10.2M
The Manchester school board is sending a letter to state legislators sounding the alarm about a small section — six lines, to be exact — in the state budget trailer bill (HB 2) that would cost the school district approximately $10.2 million next fiscal year.
Page 70 of the bill includes language establishing what is essentially a cap on targeted aid for larger school districts.
For districts with 5,000 or more students, the bill seeks to subtract from targeted state aid until the amount decreases to $3,750 per student.
The cap would effectively cut Manchester's adequacy aid from $127.8 million under current law to just under $117.6 million — a cut of more than $10.2 million.
By comparison, the city of Nashua would see its targeted aid jump by more than $1.2 million under the new language, from $83.2 million to $84.4 million.
'As far as we can tell, Manchester is the only municipality in New Hampshire that stands to lose money because of this cap on targeted aid,' the letter from Manchester's school board to the Legislature's Committee of Conference says. 'Such a loss would put at risk our ability to best serve the educational needs of our students.'
The state's education aid formula was tweaked in response to Manchester getting a bonus from the introduction of the Extraordinary Needs Grant in 2021, a more than $30 million annual increase.
The amendment limits that bonus and will lead to Manchester getting more than $10 million less than it gets now. The amendment received support from members of both parties, because the $10 million is being shared by other income- and property-poor communities like Berlin, Claremont and Franklin.
Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais said Tuesday he has been in contact with some of the committee members, who will likely begin meeting later this week.
"I am reaching out to the conferees to gather information and develop a course of action to address this issue," Ruais said.
School board member Bob Baines, a former mayor and educator, said he spoke to Gov. Kelly Ayotte about the targeted cap last week.
'We've been in touch with various representatives, but this needs to be watched very, very carefully in the (Legislature's) Committee of Conference,' Baines said. 'Can you imagine the devastation that will occur in Manchester, the most significant devastation possible in our public schools. We all need to work on that with our representatives, because I think in any big government bill — no matter how big and beautiful it is — some people don't read it and don't understand.
'Why would Manchester be singled out as the only community in the state of New Hampshire that would lose funding? If you care about Manchester, we should get that funding — we planned on it.'
School board member Sean Parr drafted the letter and gathered the signatures of fellow board members this week.
'We are hoping to reach out to the Committee of Conference to let them know that it has this particular effect only on Manchester,' Parr said. 'I think it would be good for us to at least explain the situation, tell them that it's a significant impact to our budget in its current form, and to ask that they reconsider that part of the budget proposal.'
In the letter, school board members urge committee members to reconsider the 'targeted cap' portion of the bill, warning the proposed budget could lead to 'harmful cuts and reductions to student services.'
School officials point out that despite being the largest school district in New Hampshire with nearly 12,000 students, Manchester ranks at the bottom of the state in per-pupil spending, with over 53% of students qualifying for free and reduced-price meals, 20% multilingual learners, and 23% special education students.
'The proposed reductions would therefore have devastating consequences for our students, our educators, and ultimately, the future of our city,' the letter says. 'We welcome the opportunity to engage in continued dialogue, and we hope that you will collaborate in crafting a budget that reflects the values, priorities, and long-term vision of a thriving state with excellent public schools.'
pfeely@unionleader.com
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