The Claremont school district has been aware since earlier this year that they faced imminent financial difficulty. According to SAU #6, schools were scheduled to open Aug. 28th, but with a warning that the opening could still be delayed or that schools may close if the district cannot make their financial obligations, one being payroll.
In the meantime, local and state officials continue to work towards understanding the full extent of the district’s financial problems. Gov. Kelly Ayotte called the multimillion-dollar deficit for Claremont schools "unacceptable" and criticized local officials. The governor recently stated: "This is exactly why the Dept. of Education is working so closely right now with Claremont on this situation, because we need to make sure that the kids can start school. And this is unacceptable, that local mismanagement has happened. And so, we're working with them through the Dept. of Education to do what the state can do."
What the state can do.
Well, for starters how about complying with yet another court order to fairly fund the public school system? How about restoring the Interest and Dividends Tax which brought in revenue for fiscal year 2024 at $184.3 million? And the hated school vouchers that will cost millions of taxpayer dollars rerouted from public schools to private, religious schools or homeschool families. And we haven’t even touched upon what the governor and the Republican majority has done to the University System of New Hampshire with that $35 million cut in the budget.
But that is what the state can do. For starters . . .
Rep. Michael Cahill D-Newmarket, recently gave a statement pertaining to the woes of Claremont, “You may be weary of the School Building Aid issue, but Claremont's Stevens High School was the first victim of the moratorium on funding the program that since the 40's had helped build and renovate public schools.
Claremont's Stevens High School renovation funding is another factor in this current issue. The high school was placed on probation in 2012, two years after voters defeated a proposal for a $23 million renovation project for the school. The bond article failed by 1 vote, but there would have been 60% ($13.8M) in state funding because this was prior to the moratorium on School Building Aid.
A smaller bond was approved by voters in 2013, and the $12.6 million renovation was completed in the spring of 2015. The high school building had not had a major renovation for about 50 years. The community rallied around the project because they knew the school’s accreditation hinged on it.
Had the voters passed the $23M, they would have paid their $9.2M share which is $3.4 less than the $12.6 they took on with $0.00 in state funding.
HB366 is scheduled for a work session on September 9th. This is my most recent effort to recoup for each school project denied funding due to the moratorium 50% of the state grant they should have received. For Claremont's Stevens High School that would be $3,780,000 a sum that could be found if Fiscal wanted to do so.
No doubt the $9.2M the state failed to contribute had long lasting impact on property taxpayers. They had to cover the entire $12.6M plus interest.”
In 2011, legislators placed a moratorium on school building aid funding, putting a stop to all future building projects statewide until 2013, except for emergency funding authorized by legislators on a case-by-case basis. The majority party? Republicans.
In 2017, the Republican majority killed a bill that would have lifted the school building aid. To this day the moratorium has never been lifted. The building aid program issues payments on old awards that were approved before 2011, with a total balance of about $260 million. The state is scheduled to make payments until 2041.
There is only so much burden the average property owner can withstand. The courts have repeatedly ruled, fix the funding formula. Will the governor and her Republican majority continue to ignore the rulings?