SWANZEY, N.H. (MyKeeneNow) The Monadnock Regional School District is grappling with a proposed $3.2 million budget reduction, a move that has caught the school board by surprise and sparked concerns over its potential impact on students and staff. The cuts, which bring the proposed budget down to $36 million from an initial $39.2 million, come as the district prepares for an upcoming vote on March 11.

Scott Peters, chairman of the Monadnock Regional School Board, appeared on “Good Morning with Dan Mitchell” on WKBK Radio this week to discuss the difficult decisions facing the district in light of the budget cuts. Peters, who has served on the board for a decade, explained the board’s approach in addressing the shortfall, emphasizing that core education and legal obligations must be prioritized.

Tough Choices Ahead

“We gave administration sort of a sequence of what to look at first versus last and core education and our legal obligations around special education. They’re the untouchables, they’re the things that we go to last and only if we are so desperate that we have to,” Peters told Mitchell.

With that framework in place, extracurricular activities, supplies, and non-essential programs are most at risk for cuts. However, the district’s total supplies budget is already stretched thin, totaling just $400,000—including necessities such as toilet paper and sand for icy parking lots. “The student supplies line I think was in the 30,000 some odd dollars a year range, which isn’t a drop in the bucket when we have to cut 3.2 million,” Peters noted.

Impact on Class Sizes and Staffing

During his interview on Good Morning with Dan Mitchell, Peters stressed that the board is trying to avoid teacher layoffs and increased class sizes, considering them a last resort. The district’s average class size currently stands at 16.7 students, slightly below the state average of 16.9. Cutting teaching positions could jeopardize this balance and negatively impact education quality.

Further complicating matters, the district faces $1.7 million in fixed budget drivers—such as employee health insurance and transportation costs—which cannot be cut. With these obligations, any discretionary spending reductions must be even deeper to meet the proposed budget target.

Public Engagement and Next Steps

Despite the magnitude of the proposed cuts, public engagement has been low, with few residents attending recent school board meetings. As the March 11 vote approaches, the board faces the challenge of making the community aware of the potential consequences.

“This isn’t belt tightening. Now we’re talking about downsizing and that means tough choices,” Peters said. “No one wants to touch the sports programs, no one wants to touch the arts programs.”

Constraints and Upcoming Vote

One option the district cannot consider is closing schools, as it remains committed to ongoing elementary school renovations. The financial obligations tied to these projects further restrict the board’s flexibility in making cuts.

The alternative to the proposed $36 million budget is the district’s default budget of $38.8 million. While closer to the original proposal, it still requires significant reductions, leaving the board with difficult choices either way.

Listen to the full interview: