'We Are Newfound' aims to boost school budget
Newfound Area School District tax cap threatens sports, special education
A budget shortfall under the Newfound Area School District’s tax cap threatens to reduce staffing and force cutbacks in special education and sports. A grassroots group, “We Are Newfound,” is mobilizing to override the tax cap during the school district’s deliberative session in order to preserve programs that are facing the axe.
As reported in Newfound Lake Life, a free publication serving four of the school district’s seven member towns, the restrictions imposed by the tax cap also are forcing cuts in supplies, field trips, books, and technology, as well as building maintenance.
School district officials have warned for years that the time was coming when there would be nothing further to cut without affecting the educational experience. The tax cap limits the increase in the school district’s assessment to member towns to 2 percent. The budget itself can exceed the 2 percent limit if there are revenues to offset the increased spending, but more often than not, the cap has resulted in shortfalls that the district has been able to meet by renegotiating service contracts, seeking greater energy efficiency, and taking tighter control over staff expenditures.
This year, most of those options no longer exist, and reduced revenues have added to the problem. Because state adequacy aid is based in part on the number of students applying for free or reduced lunches, and because the federal government’s response to the coronavirus included free lunches for all students, families that normally applied for free lunches did not bother to fill out the paperwork. That resulted in a sharp reduction in adequacy aid for the school district, according to Superintendent Pierre Couture.
Because of the reduced revenue, the increase in the school budget for the coming academic year is limited by the tax cap to $285,512 on a $23 million budget. With costs such as health insurance rising, the Newfound Area School Board was forced to look at staffing cuts and the elimination of middle school and junior varsity athletics, Newfound Lake Life reports.
State news
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