Moderator Charles Niebling addresses Merrimack Valley School District residents during the 2023 Annual Meeting as board members and administrators look on.
monitor file
The Merrimack Valley School District's budget increase for next year is driven by special education and health insurance, two factors that will hit the district in New Hampshire.
The district's proposed budget of $48,298,106 is an increase of nearly $2.7 million or 5.9 percent over last year. More than three-quarters of this increase came from these two categories.
Special education costs accounted for more than half of the increase.
Many special education positions are under contract, from speech therapists to occupational therapists and more. Not only are more students using these services, but tuition is also rising, Director of Student Support Services Mary Paradise explained during the district's budget hearing last month.
Superintendent Randy Wormald said bringing these services in-house rather than contracting them out would help reduce expenses. However, the difficult job market and the fluctuating nature of special education needs from year to year make it difficult.
“If we can hire someone, we can reduce our dependence on this service or that service. So when we've had the opportunity to do that, we've looked at the numbers and taken those steps,” Wormald said. he said. “The problem is finding people for us to come on board.”
When it comes to health and dental insurance costs, Wormald said while the district's price hikes hurt, it could have been worse.
“I would never say we're lucky to be at 21.8 (percent),” Wormald said, although other districts have reached the 25% cap.
The third category is pay increases due to pre-approved union contract agreements, which is an additional 13% of the increase. That means 95 percent of the district's climbing budget this year came from just three areas.
The district was unable to provide an estimate of how the new spending would affect tax rates in sending cities, but some attendees at the hearing wanted to know the estimate.
“You account for 53 percent of Boscawen's taxes,” said Tom Laliberte, a member of the town's budget committee. “What I'm concerned about is the cost and burden on taxpayers. It costs a lot of money in tough times.”
The district warrant also includes a new contract agreement with the Merrimack Valley Supervisors Association and a $150,000 deposit into the Maintenance Trust Fund. Voters will also elect the chairperson position and four school board positions.
Residents of Penacook and the sending cities of Andover, Boscawen, Loudon, Salisbury and Webster will vote on warrant provisions, including the budget, at the Merrimack Valley School District's annual meeting on Friday, March 8.
