Concord’s Rundlett Middle School 4th On NH School Building Aid List

CONCORD, NH — The state board of education has approved 17 school building aid applications for consideration for the fiscal years 2024 and 2025 budgets.

The 17 schools are a mix of new school construction, renovation, and addition proposals.

The $176.2 million new Rundlett Middle School project was fourth on the list behind a new, consolidated elementary school in Rochester ($20.2M), an elementary school addition in Colebrook ($9.9M), and consolidation, addition, and renovations to multiple elementary schools in the Monadnock Regional School District ($19.4M).

The Concord School District SAU 8 requested building aid of $70.5 million.

Around $49 million “could possibly be available” during the next two years “if building aid is fully funded,” Kimberly Houghton, a spokeswoman for the department, said.

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“School building aid awards will be based upon this new ranking and the total state appropriation available, which has not yet been determined,” she said. “It is still unknown how many school building aid grants will be funded, and some projects require local approval by voters.”

Concord’s new middle school project will not require local approval by voters. SAU 8 is autonomous and raises taxes and spends money based on a recommendation of the superintendent and a vote of the school board, not the general public, like every other community in the state.

Houghton said the department would present the final list to the state legislature for consideration as part of its proposed overall budget.

A new Griffin Memorial Elementary School for Litchfield requested building aid of $9.6 million and was fifth on the list.

The other 12 proposals range in aid amounts from $2.2 million to $74.9 million for consolidation and addition and renovation projects. The total cost of the 17 projects is $227.7 million.

The full list can be found here.

“This is the largest number of applications received for the school building aid program since the moratorium was lifted in 2020,” Houghton said.

No New Financials Available

The Concord School District does not have any new financial information available now that the $70.5 million in school building aid, when it becomes available, has been approved.

Jack Dunn, the business administrator for the district, said there were no updated financials available based on the state’s approval of the district’s plan.

“We will meet with the board in the future and discuss what they would like to see,” he said.

A plan to have the school built on Clinton Street, on land owned by the CenterPoint Church, was recently rejected by church members.

Another Workshop Held Wednesday

The Concord Greenspace Coalition is hosting a “middle school location and design workshop” at the citywide community center, 14 Canterbury Road.

Community members, as well as School Superintendent Kathleen Murphy and board of education members, are invited.

The event is being co-sponsored by the Concord Greenspace Coalition and will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday. All are welcome to attend.

Carisa Corrow of Penacook, the founder of Educating for Good in New Hampshire, is facilitating the meeting.

Many residents may recall that in a column in the Concord Monitor in September 2021, Corrow advocated officials in both the Concord and Merrimack Valley school districts consider merging. She noted Penacook would “fully benefit” by not having a different and higher tax rate. There are also two high schools and two middle schools in the districts — meaning taxpayers could realize some savings by not having two fiefdoms but, instead, one. The idea, however, has gone nowhere.

For more information about the workshop, visit this link.

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