KEENE, N.H. (MyKeeneNow) Keene voters will have an opportunity Tuesday evening to ask questions and share feedback on the Keene School District’s proposed 2026–27 budget, a plan that would shape school property taxes for the coming year.

The Keene Board of Education is recommending an $82.4 million operating budget, trimmed by about $1 million from the administrators’ original proposal. The board also proposes using $500,000 from the district’s unreserved fund balance to reduce the amount that would need to be raised through property taxes.

Tuesday’s public hearing is part of the annual budget process, but no changes can be made that night. Voters will be able to amend the proposal at the district’s deliberative session on Saturday, Feb. 7, before casting final ballots in March.

District leaders say the budget reflects a difficult balancing act between rising costs and declining enrollment, a trend affecting school systems across New Hampshire. Projected enrollment continues to fall at multiple levels, a factor that has driven staffing reductions included in the plan.

One of the reductions was a $107,607 reading interventionist position at Keene Middle School.

Several of the board’s cuts target capital projects and positions. Removed from the proposal were funds for a new mass notification system at Keene High School, a window replacement project at Wheelock Elementary School, two elementary and middle school resource officer positions, and a high school science teacher. The district will also save money after receiving a federal IDEA grant to fund a special education teaching position that had been included in the budget.

Declining enrollment at the middle school was a key factor in the decision, according to Superintendent Robert Malay.

Enrollment declines have also led administrators to cut eight full-time teaching positions at Keene High School, a change included in the board’s recommended budget.

Of the factors out of the district’s control are a roughly $2 million increase in out-of-district special education costs, which the district is required by the state to pay, along with about $1 million in costs tied to staff contracts previously approved by voters.

Those collective bargaining agreements — covering principals and supervisors as well as paraprofessionals — were voted on separately last year, and the resulting increases are built into the 2026–27 budget.

In addition to the budget, voters will also be able to comment on a warrant article that would allow parents to enroll their children in any New Hampshire public school, with state education aid following the student. The Legislature approved the framework last year, leaving final decisions to individual districts.

The public hearing begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Jonathan Daniels Professional Development Building, 227 Maple Ave. The meeting will also be livestreamed for those unable to attend in person at www.sau29.org/news-media/sau29-live-stream.