Towns want a bill to change school funding

On Monday, November 14 officials from Franklin, Berlin, Manchester and other towns met to discuss changing the state’s school funding formula.

State education funding for each town is calculated according to many factors, including enrollment numbers, the number of students receiving free lunches, and the number of English language learners.

In the last legislative session representatives voted to gradually phase out “stabilization grants.” Those grants keep funding level for towns that are losing students.

Towns set to lose funding under this plan are worried that they will not be able to meet the needs of their students without cutting other town services.

“Something in the immediate future needs to happen so we can run our schools without shutting down our police departments,” said Franklin City Manager Elizabeth Dragon. 

However, other towns view stabilization grants as unfair because they result in some towns receiving more state funding per student than others. Stabilization grants were funded in part by capping how much fast-growing towns could receive year to year; state courts ruled those caps were unconstitutional.

Do you think New Hampshire should keep stabilization grants? Let us know in the comments.