Concord, NH: Districts to go $2.3M to $2.4M over budget for professional services for pupils

Oct 10, 2025, Manchester, NH, Union Leader: 'Perfect storm' leaves Concord schools $5 million short 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/perfect-storm-leaves-concord-schools-224600368.html

Another Granite State school district is facing a $5 million shortfall in the budget. And this time, the deficit wasn’t found in a property-poor city with a history of education funding issues, but right in the state capital.

Concord Board of Education President Pamela Walsh identified four sources of the funding gap at Wednesday’s meeting.

They included a $2 million assessment from SchoolCare, a health insurance risk pool; reduced state adequacy payments; lower-than-expected valuations of taxable property in the district; and rising special education costs. . . .

 “It’s just a perfect storm — What do we whittle away at, and how do we, in the meantime, maintain a positive, productive school district?”

The crisis could lead to higher taxes for Concord residents. As of Wednesday, the board plans to raise taxes by $0.86 per $1,000 of property value to bring in $1.1 million more revenue.

The board will decide on raising taxes and accepting the 2025-2026 fiscal year budget at a public hearing scheduled for 6 p.m. Oct. 22.

 “I do not like putting a 5.5% increase into the budget at all, but I will vote for this because I think it’s probably the best solution for the one-time, catastrophic situation we’re in right now,” board member Jim Richards said.

School funding deficits have been top of mind in public education since Claremont School District found it is also facing a $5 million deficit due to errors by the administrative unit’s business office, including overestimating revenues in 2022, not recording health care and benefits expenses, and missing federal grant deadlines.

SchoolCare asked its member entities for a total of $30 million in contributions to reset and resolve a projected $4.5 million deficit. Concord faces the second-largest share of the bill at just under $2 million.

The district’s state adequacy aid grant for 2024-2025 also came in at $671,000 less than estimated last year, due to changes in actual enrollment, and Concord’s valuation was about $473,800 less than anticipated, resulting in $1.3 million of missed revenues.

The school district’s business administrator, Jack Dunn, announced on Monday that Concord is also projected to go $2.3 million to $2.4 million over budget for professional services for pupils.