Article 2:
Operating Budget ($22,599,250)
Warrant Article Language
Shall the Souhegan Cooperative School District raise and appropriate as an operating budget, not including appropriations by special warrant articles and other appropriations voted separately, the amounts set forth on the budget posted with the warrant or as amended by vote of the first session, for the purposes set forth therein, totaling twenty two million five hundred ninety nine thousand two hundred fifty dollars ($22,599,250)? Should this article be defeated, the default budget shall be twenty two million five hundred twelve thousand five hundred ninety dollars ($22,512,590), which is the same as last year, with certain adjustments required by previous action of the Souhegan Cooperative School District or by law; or the governing body may hold one special meeting, in accordance with RSA 40:13, X and XVI, to take up the issue of a revised operating budget only? Majority vote required.
Recommended by the Souhegan Cooperative School Board (7-0)
Recommended by the Souhegan Cooperative School District Advisory Finance Committee (7-0)
Estimated tax impact of passing this article is $0.47 per thousand for Amherst and -$0.01 per thousand for Mont Vernon.
Estimated tax impact of not passing this article is $0.44 per thousand for Amherst and -$0.04 per thousand for Mont Vernon.
*NOTE: Warrant Article 2 (operating budget) does not include appropriations proposed in any other warrant articles.
BOARD EXPLANATION
The FY27 budget is a $976,546 or 4.5% increase from the current year. The main factors of the cost increase are:
Salary increases for all staff and administrators of approximately $287,550
The health insurance increases range from 11.6% to 15.9% and dental insurance increase is 4.4%. This adds $406,990 to the budget
New transportation contract increases the budget $79,429
Special Education has an increase in one FTE. There is a reduction of two special education para-professionals offset by an increase of three ABA special education para-professionals due to students matriculating from Amherst Middle School.
The increase in the SAU assessment of $106,945 due to increase in salaries, a retirement payout and contractual support budgeted for a new Business Administrator, as well as a movement of one FTE from the Amherst School District to the SAU which will streamline work, support the Facilities Director, and properly allocate costs to all school districts.
Property & Liability insurance increase of $12,611
Increase in textbooks of $34,625 due to the need to purchase new math books to support instruction practices
More students are attending CTE programs increasing tuition costs by $20,000
SOUHEGAN ADVISORY FINANCE COMMITTEE COMMENTS
The SAFC worked diligently to scrutinize the proposed budget line by line but also looked beyond the surface to understand any new initiatives. We were committed to not only vet the proposed budget numbers but also to look deeper at what those dollars were being spent on and whether they were an efficient use of tax dollars toward improving teaching and learning.
We found the year over year budget increase of 4.5% to be justified and agreed unanimously that we could support the budget as a whole with a vote of 7 to 0.
As in years past, we noted that the significant increases in Health and Dental Insurance were the central drivers of the increase to the operating budget – something over which there is no control. In addition, this year’s budget reflects the NH Retirement Employer Contribution rate of 19.23% for Teachers and 12.75% for Non-Teachers. The proposed budget also reflected an additional increase due to the new transportation contract. And finally, there was a reduction of 2 Special Education Paraprofessionals countered by the addition of 3 ABA Special Education Paraprofessionals needed to meet the needs of incoming Freshmen.
What stands out is that the proposed operating budget clearly supports the core objective to improve student performance through improved classroom instruction. The budget reflects the goals of the Board to give students additional instructional time, to offer programs that meet the ever-changing needs of our students, and to continue to provide teachers the time, support, and feedback to provide high quality instruction. Of particular note was the Math Program Self Study that resulted in significant changes to the math program with an effort to align the introduction of math concepts with the SAT test. The budget includes the request for new math textbooks to facilitate this realignment.
There continues to be focus on making sure there is adequate staffing to improve reading proficiency and math support as well as to meet the additional state graduation requirements. Programs have been adjusted to ensure compliance with state education requirements. The SAFC applauds the efforts of the Souhegan Board and Administration to do studies that are designed to do continuous improvement of Souhegan’s programs we well as to use the space and staff the most efficiently. The data from these various studies will help both the Board and Administration chart the best path forward for our students.
VOICE OF THE VOTER
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