Winnacunnet Faces $414k Shortfall, Teachers Fear Cuts Loom

School Administrative Unit 21 has received word that due to changes in the state retirement system, the Winnacunnet School Board will have to adjust its budget by about $414,000.

There has been speculation that a shortfall of that magnitude could mean teacher cuts, which is part of the reason why roughly 50 teachers and community members piled into Winnacunnet High School for a special board meeting Wednesday night.

No staffing cuts or decisions were made during the two-hour session, which primarily consisted of what school board Chairman Maria Brown called a "non-meeting" behind closed doors with legal counsel and a nonpublic session.

Teachers -- such as Andy Gushee, a social studies teacher and president of the Seacoast Education Association -- said they came Wednesday because they heard rumors the school board may have scheduled the meeting to reconsider a vote last week to hire several new teachers.

Brown said that wasn't the case.

"It was just about the budget," said Brown.

She said the board needed to hold the "non-meeting" because of the downshifted $414,000, and she said they allowed public comment after the "non-meeting" and before the start of the nonpublic session because they need to evaluate what they can do to adjust their budget for the shortfall.

School board member Wayne Skoglund said he was aware of the rumors about possible cuts -- which are expected to lead to increased course loads for the remaining teachers if they happen -- but denied they had bearing on Wednesday's meeting.

"This meeting had nothing to do with that," said Skoglund. "There's nothing for [the teachers] to get riled up about."

Skoglund did say, though, that the school board voted last week to fill vacant positions knowing "the state had not made a decision" about retirement contributions.

It is possible the district could offset the $414,000 with money from an expected surplus that would otherwise be turned over to the towns -- a surplus that was created thanks to cost-saving decisions made by district administrators.

Science teacher John Croteau said he favored this approach because the district had already planned for this as their "worst-case scenario" and he said cutting the new hires could lead to a reduction in class sizes, which he said could lead to further cuts.

"It's a little bit scary if they want to reconsider their vote [on hiring new teachers] now," said Croteau. "There doesn't seem to be any good reason to go back on that decision. The voters already passed the budget."

Skoglund said the district has also found a $150,000 savings in its health insurance costs, although he said increases in fuel and other costs could eat into that savings.

As the district moves forward with dealing with the shortfall and discussing its teachers' course loads, Gushee said he hopes the union and the Winnacunnet School Board can make the decision process "collaborative."

"We have a great staff and a dedicated, experienced staff... and we're hopeful that the school board listens to that expertise," said Gushee. "If the board has a problem, we'd like to work with them to solve the issues. We'd like some transparency."

The Winnacunnet School Board entered its nonpublic "non-meeting" with legal counsel at 5 p.m. Wednesday without a vote, and allowed the public to reenter at 6:27 p.m. to listen to a board discussion about the shortfall.

Skoglund motioned at 6:38 p.m. to enter a nonpublic session in accordance with RSA 91-A:3 II (a)-(e). The vote was unanimous, and he said no decisions were made during the nonpublic portion.

The board voted unanimously to conclude its nonpublic session at 7:03 p.m. The public wasn't present for that vote because the board did it behind closed doors.

The next Winnacunnet School Board meeting will be during the first week of August, according to Skoglund.