District Newsletter January, 2025

Hello Barrington Families;

Please join us on Saturday, February 8, 2025 at 9:00am in the Barrington Middle School cafeteria for our Deliberative Session regarding the proposed 2025/2026 school budget. The Administrative Team in conjunction with the School Board and School Board Advisory Budget Committee have been working collaboratively since October to develop and refine the proposed budget for the 2025/2026 school year. In preparation for the Deliberative Session, you can access the video from the January 7, 2025 Budget Hearing as well as my presentation from that evening and the proposed and default budgets on our District website. I encourage you to take an hour or two to review and digest this information as it is quite different from years past. In last month’s newsletter I discussed the unusually high default budget along with some of the reasons for that increased number. As a reminder, the 2025/2026 default budget is an increase of 6.41% over the current 2024/2025 operating budget. Some of the factors contributing to that increase are a 12.4% increase in health insurance, rising transportation costs, contractual salary increases, an increased number of high school aged students as well as an up to 8% increase in our high school tuition rates.

Given this higher default budget, our team worked diligently to keep the proposed budget as close to the default budget as possible while still being able to maintain our quality educational services and facilities. As you review the budget documents on our website you will note that the 2025/2026 proposed budget is 7.53% over the current operating budget or a 1.1% increase over the default budget. This 1.1% equates to just under $329,000. That $329,000 supports many needed items such as grounds work (needed tree trimming and removal), food service and transportation increases, utility cost increases, cleaning services, non union salary increases, and ADA compliance website upgrades.

Following the Deliberative Session we will be publishing a Community Voter Guide in conjunction with the Town which will explain each of the eight Warrant Articles that will be put forth to you as voters on March 11, 2025. Those eight Articles are:

1. Elected positions

2. Operating Budget

3. Extending the Moderator, Treasurer, and Clerk positions from 1 year positions to 2 year positions

4. Oyster River High School Tuition Contract

5. Dover High School Tuition Contract

• Please note that Coe Brown continues to be a School of Choice for Barrington residents. We have a signed and agreed upon Memorandum of Understanding with Coe Brown.

1. The Educator 3 Year Collective Bargaining Agreement

2. Permission to hold a Special Meeting if the Educator Agreement were to fail

3. Adding to the Facilities Capital Reserve account with no additional taxation

Please do not hesitate to reach out with questions. I am here to help!

For future planning, here is the approved 2025/2026 School District Calendar .

Warmly,

Dear Barrington Families,

Thank you for your continued partnership as we navigated the 2025/2026 budget season. There are two steps remaining in the budget process, the February 8th Deliberative Session and the March 11th vote. We are feeling quite confident that we have put forth a proposed budget that continues to meet the needs of all school age students in our town. I do, however, want to share some important information regarding some significant changes in state funding for special education. While this information is relevant to our current discussions, it also sheds light on potential future impacts to special education funding within our district.

At present, Barrington has not seen a significant impact, however, we are anticipating that in the years to come, we may need to adjust our budget in order to meet the evolving needs of our students. Our priority remains to provide the best education possible for all students, and we will continue to monitor these changes closely to ensure that we are prepared to meet any challenges that arise.

Overview

New Hampshire is facing a severe funding shortfall in special education aid, creating an unprecedented challenge for school districts across the state. Rising costs, legislative inaction, and a lack of emergency funding requests from the Department of Education have created a crisis that jeopardizes the quality of education for students with special needs and places undue financial strain on local communities.

Without immediate intervention, this shortfall will force districts to rely on local taxpayers, deplete reserves, or divert funding from other critical priorities—threatening educational equity and compliance with federal mandates.

Key Issues

Rising Costs and Insufficient State Funding

Implications

Recommendations

Conclusion

The special education funding shortfall is a crisis that threatens educational equity, compliance with federal laws, and community trust in the state’s ability to meet its obligations. Lawmakers and the Department of Education must take immediate and decisive action to restore funding and prevent further harm to students and taxpayers.

References

NH school districts face major special education funding shortfall

New Hampshire schools told to expect less state aid for special education costs New Hampshire school districts face major special education funding shortfall School Funding and Special Education: 2024 Update

Key Findings from Fair Funding NH:

• State and Federal Governments paid 17.47% of costs associated with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) in 2023, which was one percent less than in 2022.

• In 2023, 60 New Hampshire public school districts spent over 25% of their total expenditures on IEP expenses.

• Benton School District spent 45.65% of its total expenditures on IEP expenses in 2023, the highest proportion in the State.

• The average additional cost to educate one student with an IEP in New Hampshire was $29,556 in 2023.

• The average cost to educate one student without an IEP in New Hampshire in 2023 was $18,419, 14% more than in 2022.

• Special Education Average Daily Membership (ADM) constantly changes, causing volatile costs.

• The State contributes, on average, $3,094 additional per student with an IEP, which is only 10.47% of the actual additional cost, and less than in 2022.

• Catastrophic Aid is only 3.7% of the total funding for disability services within New Hampshire’s public schools in 2023.

From: "Edelblut, Louis (Frank)" <Louis.F.Edelblut@doe.nh.gov>

Date: November 12, 2024 at 10:28:56 AM EST

Subject: Special Education Funding

Dear School Leaders:

I am writing to share some important information regarding the current special education aid funding, which I know will be of significance to all of you.

There has been a steady increase in the number of students with Individualized Education Programs and an increase in the cost of providing IEP services, as illustrated in the attached analysis.

As you might already be aware, as of Oct. 1, 2024, LEAs have sought reimbursement of $50,273,602 of Special Education Aid eligible for reimbursement after the cap totals. The current appropriation for this crucial area of special education aid is $33,917,000, resulting in a proration of 67.5%. Although the total reimbursement expected to be paid by the state in January of 2025 is the same amount that was reimbursed to districts in 2024 and 2023, the proration rate is lower than in recent years; the proration amount in 2024 was 87% and the proration amount in 2023 was 98.3%.

We understand how this reduction in funding could impact your schools, your budgets, and, ultimately, the communities and students you serve. The gap between Special Education Aid claims and the amount in the state budget to reimburse districts creates real challenges, and we acknowledge the strain this places on your districts.

Attached to this letter is a comprehensive analysis over the past eight years of Special Education Aid that looks at both the number of eligible students and the cost of services. For comparison, there were 765 students considered eligible for special education aid last year. That number has grown to 870 – an increase of 12% in one year. This increase included the expansion, in compliance with federal law, of services to students inclusive of 21, which added 48 students in fiscal year 2024. In addition to a higher number of special education students, the special education cost per pupil for those individuals eligible for reimbursement after the cap increased 9.3% in that same timeframe – rising from $127,841 to $139,694. Statewide special education spending, including state, federal, local and other sources, increased from $843 million to $915 million over this same period.

While these budgetary constraints are not the news we were hoping for, I want to assure you that we are acutely aware of the difficulties this may create, not only for your schools but also for taxpayers who contribute to supporting our educational system. We will work to provide guidance to districts that could be facing significant impacts because of this shortfall.

In the meantime, I encourage you to consider this information as you make any necessary adjustments to your financial planning. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions on how we can work together to navigate this challenging situation.

Thank you for your continued leadership and dedication to the students and families in your care.

Frank Edelblut

Warm regards,

Thank you for your continued patience and partnership as we address the recent cybersecurity incident. Over the last few weeks, we have been focused on assessing the scope of data involved, making further enhancements to our cybersecurity defenses, and developing a plan to help you and our shared community.

As a PowerSchool SIS customer whose information was involved, I am writing to provide you with updates on several important next steps:

Identity Protection and Credit Monitoring Services: PowerSchool has engaged Experian a trusted credit reporting agency, to offer complimentary identity protection and credit monitoring services to all students and educators whose information from your PowerSchool SIS was involved. This offer is being provided regardless of whether an individual’s Social Security number was exfiltrated.

• Identity Protection: PowerSchool will be offering two years of complimentary identity protection services for all students and educators whose information was involved.

• Credit Monitoring: PowerSchool will also be offering two years of complimentary credit monitoring services for all adult students and educators whose information was involved.

• Community: PowerSchool will coordinate with Experian to provide notice on your behalf to students (or their parents / guardians if the student is under 18) and educators, as applicable, whose information was involved, as well as a call center to answer questions from the community. The notice will include the identity protection and credit monitoring services offer (as applicable).

• Regulatory: PowerSchool will provide notification on your behalf to relevant state attorney general offices. You may also have notification requirements with your state’s Department of Education where required. Since many customers have already notified and are in close contact with their state’s Department of Education, PowerSchool will defer to you on these notifications.

Sincerely,

Hardeep Gulati

Chief Executive Officer, PowerSchool