School Committee advances $191 million school budget to Aldermen

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District Superintendent Jenn Gillis on Feb. 22, 2023. Photo/Andrew Sylvia

MANCHESTER, N.H. – On Wednesday night, the Manchester Board of School Committee (BOSC) finalized its proposed Fiscal Year 2024 budget, which now requires final approval from the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

Wednesday’s tax cap figure rose to a $191,759,220 tax-cap compliant figure which was up from the original estimated $188,759,220 tax-cap compliant figure a week earlier at the BOSC Finance and Facilities Committee hearing on the budget a week earlier.

That leaves just $997,649 above the tax cap in the district’s “additional needs” budget request, primarily focused on funding programs seeking to advance the district’s equity-related goals, with several members of the public and several BOSC members applauding the efforts of district leaders to include more funding for equity-related efforts into the tax-cap compliant budget. Under the city’s charter, Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig may only present the tax-cap-compliant budget to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, with only the board itself able to take action upon the “additional needs” proposal with an override of the tax cap.

This new figure came from adjustments to the district’s health trust funding, allowing the shifting of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds toward the tax-cap budget.

ESSER funds, which came from the federal government’s COVID-19 aid response, must be expended by fall of 2024, with Manchester School District Superintendent Dr. Jenn Gillis telling the BOSC that efforts are already underway to craft the Fiscal Year 2025 budget as well, looking the district will compensate for the loss of those ESSER funds by examining their impact on educational outcomes through the next fiscal year.

Ward 7 BOSC Member Chris Potter asked if the money taken out of the health trust could come from infrastructural improvements such as toward HVAC system costs, given that the district is about to undergo significant facilities upgrades, or other cost-saving measures such as delaying the purchase of new clear touch panels.

Gillis said that HVAC cuts had already been made and additional adjustments are likely to be examined in September as the ESSER wind-down analysis hits full stride.

While Manchester’s cost-per-pupil costs remain as the lowest in the state, Gillis told the BOSC that this budget proposal aims to represent the values of the district, ranging from increasing graduation requirements and lowering class sizes to ensuring that all employees are paid a minimum of $15 an hour among other initiatives.

Overall, the BOSC praised the efforts of Gillis and her team, with  Craig stating that it is difficult to achieve the district’s educational goals within the constraints of the city’s tax cap and the state’s approach toward educational aid.

“Budgets are reflective of values and principles, but when you have a tax cap, sometimes that’s hard. Sometimes you’re limited by ordinance. That is one of the challenges this board faces every budget season,” said Craig. “We do the best we can with what we have.”

In addition to the tax-cap-compliant budget and the additional needs budget, the Board of School Committee also approved advancing proposals of the $5,819,971 School Food and Nutrition Budget and $5,475,000 for funding Capital Improvement Plan Projects.


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Mayor Joyce Craig on Feb. 22, 2023. Photo/Andrew Sylvia

 

About this Author

Andrew Sylvia

Assistant EditorManchester Ink Link

Born and raised in the Granite State, Andrew Sylvia has written approximately 10,000 pieces over his career for outlets across Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. On top of that, he's a licensed notary and licensed to sell property, casualty and life insurance, he's been a USSF trained youth soccer and futsal referee for the past six years and he can name over 60 national flags in under 60 seconds according to that flag game app he has on his phone, which makes sense because he also has a bachelor's degree in geography (like Michael Jordan). He can also type over 100 words a minute on a good day.