Franklin schools experiencing $240K budget shortfall after federal grant terminated

FRANKLIN — Almost a week after the city council passed the municipal budget, Franklin School District received notice of a terminated federal grant, resulting in a loss of approximately $238,000 from the school budget.

During an emergency finance committee meeting Monday evening, Superintendent Dan LeGallo told school board members present about a termination notice, received July 21 from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for their Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Program. LeGallo also said the district will receive less in adequacy aid than previous estimated during the meeting, held in the district conference room at Franklin High School.

The Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Program grant aims to help keep kids and families connected to school and to prevent violence in schools, including school shootings, including in marginalized communities. This would have been the second year the school received the grant, in the amount of $242,000. The school used funds from the grant for three weeks before it was terminated, so the loss of revenue is approximately $238,000.

The termination letter, signed by Christopher Pratt, senior official performing the duties of undersecretary for Homeland Security, explained the cancelation.

“The Department, consistent with President Trump’s direction, is focused on advancing the essential mission of enforcing immigration laws, securing the border, and combatting anti-Semitism,” the letter read. “Consequently, grant projects that support, or have the potential to support, activities not aligned with DHS’s current focus do not effectuate the agency’s current priorities.”

The letter also noted projects the agency funded under the Biden administration were openly partisan, which factored into the decision to terminate.

The grant was primarily used to fund 45% of Wellness Coordinator Barbara Slayton’s salary, 50% of Climate Specialist Jamie Smith’s pay at the high school, and 67% of the salary for Attendance Coordinator and School Family Liaison Tim Dow. The grant also funded teacher and paraprofessional training scheduled to begin Friday, Aug. 8. LeGallo is looking for ways to keep the positions.

“The impact is so great that I wouldn't recommend that we lose any of them, that we would cut from somewhere else,” he said.

A wellness coordinator provides mental health services in schools. The climate specialist aims to create an atmosphere that is welcoming, supportive and builds confidence in students and staff alike. And the attendance coordinator ensures students come to class, even visiting families to highlight the importance of proper attendance.

Districtwide, 59.18% of students qualified for free or reduced lunch in 2023, according to the New Hampshire School Funding Fairness Project. LeGallo said with high poverty comes high trauma, which requires a greater need for mental health and wellness support for students.

“We feed and take care of their well-being before we look at, you know, reading, writing and arithmetic,” LeGallo said. “What people have to realize in our community, we really, really work hard to meet kids’ basic needs.”

LeGallo also said adequacy aid funding from the state will fall short of the estimated number in the budget. Estimates for adequacy aid are determined by the state Department of Education. Numbers are not finalized until the end of August, or in September. Schools make their estimates based on reports and information they send and receive from the DOE.

“Long after budgets have already been approved, we don't get our final number until, say, September, so certainly three months in, or two months in, after the budget has already started,” Business Administrator Jefferson Braman said.

Information regarding adequacy aid is not public until the DOE finalizes their numbers. The school district’s estimated adequacy aid is $9.4 million, a portion of the 2025-26 budget of $19.7 million.

“All these estimates and reports are embargoed and nonpublic until such time as the DOE has it all set in stone, and they feel like their errors are fixed, and districts have a chance to correct their data and all that kind of stuff,” LeGallo said.

Braman explained that this year, there were fewer students receiving free and reduced lunch. Schools in communities that are economically disadvantaged get more money from the state through an Extraordinary Needs grant. The threshold for free and reduced lunch is based on a family’s income compared with the federal poverty line. Braman said this can be tricky for families in New England.

“The cost of living in New England is a lot higher than it is in the Southeast, or Southwest, or wherever else,” he said. “I think we've had a lot of people that might have just gotten above that eligibility threshold. Doesn't mean that they're sitting pretty at home.”

A joint finance committee and city council meeting was scheduled to be held Tuesday evening at Franklin Public Library. The meeting's goal was to highlight trends and goals at Franklin schools, as well as solutions to financial problems facing the district. LeGallo said the money will be recouped from open positions and attrition.

“Just because the federal government pulls funds away doesn't mean they tell us how we spend our money or collectively, the district's money,” he said.