District Newsletter February, 2026

~Mission~

We empower our community of learners in a safe and supportive environment to nurture compassion, cultivate curiosity, and inspire innovation.

~Vision~

The Barrington School District strives to be a community learning and growing together; giving students roots and wings.

Growing Together: Monthly District Updates

Is it just me or has it felt like a particularly tough New England winter? Although we have certainly seen more snow in past years, this season has been brutally cold! I think everyone is ready for next week’s break in order to get healthy, rest up, and hopefully move about at a bit of a slower pace doing the things that make us smile. We look forward to welcoming everyone back in March, refreshed and ready to continue our learning journey. Wishing you all a safe and wonderful break!

2026/2027 Proposed Budget and March Voting:

When we return from the break we will only be nine days away from the March 10th vote. Please take a few minutes on March 10th to not only cast your important votes but to also bring in your children so they can learn about and participate in the voting process. Children will have the opportunity to vote on a variety of topics and we look forward to guiding them through this civics experience.

On Saturday, February 7, 2026 at 9:00am we held our Deliberative Session regarding the proposed 2026/2027 school budget and resulting Warrant Articles. The School Board, School Board Advisory Budget Committee and the Administrative Team have been working collaboratively since October to develop and refine the proposed budget for the 2026/2027 school year. In preparation for the March vote, you can access the video from the February 7, 2026 meeting as well as my presentation and the proposed and default budgets on our District website about half way down the homepage. I encourage you to take a couple of hours to review and digest this information so that you can go to the polls fully informed.

This year’s proposed budget increase is primarily driven by a 34.8% increase in mandated health insurance coverage. This immense increase represents 3.28% of the overall 5.58% proposed budget increase or $1,063,117. The remaining 2.3% increase is primarily a result of mandated contractual salary increases and increases to supply lines due to the cost of goods and shipping. This proposed 5.58% increase results in a tax impact of $.95 per $1,000.00 of assessed home value with the default budget resulting in an increase of $.85 per $1,000.

The six Warrant Articles going to vote this year are:

1. Elected positions

2. Operating Budget

3. The Paraprofessional 3 Year Collective Bargaining Agreement

4. Permission to hold a Special Meeting for cost items only if the Paraprofessional Agreement were to fail

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

6. Open Enrollment - becoming a sending and receiving Open Enrollment District (additional information below)

Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions. I am always happy to discuss the current and proposed budget in greater detail to work toward shared understanding.

Snow Days and the School Calendar:

Given our 2 snow days the tentative last day of school is now on Wednesday, June 17, 2026. Reminder, the Barrington School District recognizes Juneteenth so there will be no school on Friday, June 19, 2026. Please do not schedule camps and vacations just yet! March tends to be a rowdy winter month so we are not quite ready to set the 8th Grade Celebration date or the definitive last day of school. I anticipate bringing a recommendation to the School Board at the April 7, 2026 School Board meeting.

For future planning, here is the 26-27 Approved School Calendar.

• Open Enrollment is 30 year old legislation that has gained recent traction across the state of New Hampshire as a result of parental interest in school choice. The current regulatory statute permits school districts to put forth warrant articles for voter consideration in regard to becoming a district who sends or receives open enrollment students. The state has not yet made this a requirement. It remains at this time a local decision however, the legislation is being revisited by the State Board of Education in this current legislative session. As a result, it is the collective recommendation of the notable education attorneys for school districts to put forth warrant articles for voter consideration during this budget year in order to be able to define at the local level what we are able to manage not only fiscally but also from an enrollment standpoint. Please note that if the current iteration of the Open Enrollment bill passes and is signed by the Governor there is a good chance that it would override this warrant at the local level.

• For the past four years the Barrington School District has realized a slight decline in student enrollment. For four years in a row our kindergarten class has been under 100 students resulting in an elementary population next year of 362 with each of the four grade levels being under 100 students. As a result, we cut one 4th grade position for the 26/27 school year which is reflected in the proposed budget. We did, however, decide to remain at current staffing levels for kindergarten and first grades. The predicted smaller class sizes in these two grade levels allows us to suggest that we become a receiving open enrollment district for the 26/27 school year for kindergarten and 1st grades only. Additionally, in order to respect parental choice, we have decided to also become a sending open enrollment district for up to 5 students. This narrow scope will allow us to start small, permitting the opportunity to create policies and procedures for student enrollment, invoicing, as well as curtailing the financial impact when a family chooses to send to a different district. When a student enrolls in another open enrollment receiving public school Barrington must send tuition to that district in the amount of 80% of our cost per pupil amount which is about $15,700 per student. The newly drafted Open Enrollment bill states that we will be required to pay 100% of the receiving district’s tuition rate. This change, if enacted, will cause financial hardship for public school districts so we are hopeful that the language is not accepted as amended. When a parent requests to send their child to a different school it is important to note that students are permitted to change schools once per school year and that attendance is presumed to be full time at that receiving public school. Open Enrollment is not intended to be a compilation of public school, home school, online school, private school or any other means.

• 8th Grade Families: Residency paperwork was due on January 23, 2026. If you have not submitted your residency documents please do so immediately.

• 4th Grade Families: If you have not submitted your residency documents please do so ASAP.

• The New Hampshire Department of Education (NHED) has recently released a valuable new resource for families—the Diabetes Toolkit. This toolkit was developed to provide schools and families with important information about Type 1 Diabetes, in accordance with RSA 200:40-d. We encourage families to explore this resource under the wellness tab of our district website and through the NHED website, to learn more about supporting students with diabetes in our schools.

• As always, our School Board meetings are open to the public and can be viewed live or recorded through WebEx, accessible via our website. We encourage all community members to stay informed and engaged throughout the year.

Thank you for your continued investment and support!

Deannah Rae

Superintendent

drae@sau74.org

iReady

Students have completed their mid-year diagnostics and teachers are using the results to tailor classroom instruction to student needs. Students across the district had made strong growth in reading from the beginning of the year.

Math

There has been considerable professional development and training at all three buildings. ECLC is planning a "walk to math" model for students to work in small groups based on their math mid-year assessments. BES has been examining effective Mathematical instructional practices to use in the classroom. BMS has been meeting vertically to align instruction and tighten up expectations across grades.

Emily Sherman

Curriculum Coordinator

esherman@sau74.org

As we move through February, our Student Services team has been actively reviewing mid-year academic data to monitor student growth and ensure supports are aligned with individual needs. This review helps us celebrate progress and make any necessary adjustments to instruction and interventions.

WIDA testing is currently underway for our multilingual learners. We are proud of the hard work our students are showing as they demonstrate their English language growth.

Our Special Education team has also been very busy with new referrals, progress meetings, and annual IEP meetings. We appreciate the partnership of our families during this important process.

Please continue to collaborate with your child’s team—teachers, specialists, and service providers—to ensure we are working together to support your child’s success. If you have questions or would like to connect with your child’s team, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Thank you for your continued partnership!

Katie Kukesh

Director of Student Services

kkukesh@sau74.org

Hello Barrington Families.

The New Student Online Registration for the 2026/2027 school year will be available March 1st for Preschool and Kindergarten. Please contact the ECLC to receive the link. For Elementary and Middle school, the link will be posted on the website April 1st. Last year there were a few additions to the form that I would like to highlight below.

In the Parent/Guardian and Emergency Contact Information section there are a few new options. We recommend 5 contacts but if you do not have 5, that's OK, they are not required.

***IMPORTANT***

If your student is already enrolled in the Barrington School District, you will be sent a link via email to verify/review your registration information the second week in August.


• For NEW 2025/2026 (current school year) registration, please contact the school below.





For assistance please contact the school directly:


• Preschool and Kindergarten - 603-664-5586.

• For Elementary school - 603-664-2641

• For Middle school - 603-664-2127

Remember don't be quick to click!

Jeff DeLangie Sr.

Director of Technology

jdelangie@sau74.org

Hello Barrington Families,

A nice break in the winter weather, with warmer temperatures and no snow in the immediate forecast. It is a well needed break. There has been a lot of salting, plowing and shoveling. With daylight savings upon us March 8, springing one hour forward and the sun getting higher in the sky it is time to start focusing on the short comings of spring (although winter is not over with yet)! February break will be next week with deep cleaning of classrooms, and other areas that need it from the winter.

Looking forward we will be cleaning trucks, sander, tractor, and other equipment that has been use all season. Then we start to look at spring equipment de-winterizing for the upcoming mowing, mulching, tree trimming and then winterize and tune up our winter equipment for the following year.

Over the February break there are inspections that take place such as: hood vents in the kitchens, climbing wall, sprinkler, fire alarm, etc.

Hope you all enjoy this winter break.

Best,

Joe Williams

Facilities Manager

jwilliams@sau74.org

Who can receive free or reduced price meals?

• All children in households receiving benefits from NH SNAP or NH TANF, are eligible for free meals.
• Foster children that are under the legal responsibility of a foster care agency or court are eligible for free meals.
• Children participating in their school’s Head Start program are eligible for free meals.
• Children who meet the definition of homeless, runaway, or migrant are eligible for free meals.
• Children may receive free or reduced-price meals if your household’s income is within the limits set by the Federal Income Eligibility Guidelines. Your children may qualify for free or reduced-price meals if your household income falls at or below the limits on this chart.

A household may apply for benefits at any time during the school year. Children of parents or guardians who become unemployed or experience a financial hardship mid-year may become eligible for free and reduced-price meals or free milk at any point during the school year. Only one application is required for all children in the household attending schools in the same LEA. Only the last four digits of the Social Security Number of the household’s primary wage earner or another adult household member (or an indication of “none”) is needed when submitting the application. Information submitted on the application may be subject to verification.

The simplest way to apply for Free and Reduced meals is to complete an application in LINQConnect. https://linqconnect.com/main

To access the LINQConnect application form:

Log into your LINQConnect account

Under "Quick Links", select "Meal Applications" (bottom right of the screen)

Type "Barrington" in the search engine to find the Barrington School District (Barrington, NH) online application form

Free and Reduced meals applications are also available at your child's main school office upon request. Please be sure the application you are given has the current school year listed on it. Applications from previous years will not be accepted.

Brigid Connelly

Operations Manager

bconnelly@sau74.org