Residents of Jaffrey and Rindge gathered Friday evening to collect signatures on petitions asking the School Board to revisit proposed cuts in the budget that members voted to approve last week. 

In February, residents at a deliberative session voted to place a school budget on the ballot that was $3 million less than what the School Board recommended, and the lower budget passed at the March 11 election. The school board’s cuts in light of that result – approved March 17 – include athletic programs, cocurricular activities, 24 1/2 employee positions, universal access to pre-K, summer school and credit recovery programs. Educational offerings such as environmental programs provided by the Harris Center and field trips were also cut from the budget.

“All we’re trying to do is to not cut things that affect kids, such as sports and field trips,” said Sheila Nagle of Jaffrey, who was speaking with residents who came by the Rindge Recreation Center to sign a petition asking the district to consider different financial priorities and to and discuss the cuts. The School Board was scheduled to vote on the budget being sent to the state Monday.

The petition to the Jaffrey-Rindge School Board suggested specific cuts in areas other than those proposed by the School Board. These included $170,000 from the Little Orioles Center, which provides subsidized day care for district employees, noncontractual raises of $95,000 and the remainder of the co-curricular budget of $50,000. 

“Teachers pay a very small amount for their child care that we’re subsidizing,” said Nagle, referring to the Little Orioles line item.

The petition calls for restoring cuts that include $230,521 for sports programs, four full-time preschool teachers for $292,674 and $47,444 for field trips. Ultimately, the petition proposes cuts of $615,000 in various areas, and restoring programs costing $590,639. 

Max Geesey of Rindge questioned the veracity of the School Board’s and Superintendent Reuben Duncan’s claims about the targets of the cuts, saying that those who supported cutting the budget weren’t in favor of cutting programs like athletics.

Other district expenses that have prompted the response include transportation costs. 

“We spend twice as much as Mascenic on transportation, but have only 400 more students. We shouldn’t be paying twice as much,” said Isabel Geesey, who was also steering residents toward the petition at the meeting, which attracted over 40 residents.

Isabel Geesey added that she’d reached out to Jaffrey-Rindge School Board Chair Chris Ratcliffe for an explanation about the budget cuts and other matters, but had not heard back from him as of Friday’s meeting. 

“These cuts (as proposed by the School Board) are punitive,” said Claudia Stewart of Rindge. “If you’re saying that you’re working for the kids, but removing these things, it’s hypocrisy. Why doesn’t the community have a voice in what to cut?”

Isabel Geesey expressed skepticism about whether the cuts suggested by the School Board were the only ones that could be made, and suggested that objections in Jaffrey and Rindge to the original $33 million budget prompted the board to cut where it did. 

“I think they were offended at how people responded to the budget. They were mad, and made these cuts to prove a point. It’s about pride and ego,” said Geesey.

Stewart echoed this sentiment.

“They (the School Board) are trying to make sure that people don’t rise up again,” she said.

Nagle and Isabel Geesey said that School Board member Charlie Eicher of Rindge was one voice on the board who objected to eliminating the programs the board identified. On Monday, Eicher stated in an email that “I had concerns about both the process and the list of cuts. Those concerns became moot when the board voted last Monday night to pursue its current path. As a board member, I will work within that decision to minimize the impact of budget reductions as best I can.”

In addition to the petition that individuals signed at the recreation building, Nagle said that there were others circulating in the district that they hoped to present to the School Board at a future meeting.