Karen Burnett-Kurie: Impacts of the first year of a school spending cap

To The Daily Sun,

This is the first year a school spending cap is allowed in New Hampshire.

Often the need for a cap is based on the perception per-pupil costs are too high. First, if readers are astonished at the average cost of education per student in NH traditional public schools, at $20,000, keep in mind the cost for a day student at a NH private (nonreligious) school is $45,000-$50,000 per year.

Also, NH charter schools that are public schools but do not have all the regulations to abide by or requirement to serve all special needs students, can still incur costs close to $20,000 per student. The 2022 per-student cost for NH's Next Charter School was $17,130; Making Connections Charter School $16,704 and North Country Academy $16,187. And this cost does not include services covered by the traditional public schools. These services, which are required by law, are not included in the charter school's budget but instead in the traditional public school's budget. If there is a cap on the traditional public school budget, these costs cannot be cut.

Even comparing traditional public school the costs included can be quite different. In regional school districts all the school facility costs and transportation costs are included in the school district’s budget, while in many one-town districts, school facilities are under the town’s purview, as are other costs like transportation. Thus, the per pupil cost does not include the same expenses — which obviously affects how a cap will affect where cuts have to be made and the impact on students.

We all need to be extremely thoughtful in considering a budget cap based on per pupil costs. We do not want to cause unintended consequences; but also do not want to disproportionately impact some students significantly more than others.

Karen Burnett-Kurie

Wolfeboro