School budgets increase as enrollment declines

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - Lower student enrollment figures don’t necessarily mean lower school budgets.

Citing data from the New Hampshire Department of Education, the Concord Monitor reports (https://bit.ly/1y7uLHL ) that there are more than 176,000 students enrolled in Granite State schools today compared to nearly 201,000 10 years ago.

But even as enrollment declines, school budgets have tended to increase.

Concord last week passed a $75.3 million school budget - over $1 million higher than last year’s budget - even though enrollment is projected to drop.

Some school districts are consolidating schools as a way to cut costs. Concord five years ago reduced its number of elementary schools from eight to five.

The Vermont House voted last week to consolidate smaller school districts, reducing the number from 300 to about 60.

That legislation - which now goes to the Vermont Senate - says districts should have a minimum of 1,100 students and serve students from preschool through grade 12. The Senate last year rejected a similar bill.

There are a number of reasons why enrollment is falling in New Hampshire, according to Daniel Barrick, deputy director for the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies.

“Part of it’s just a generational thing,” Barrick said. “There’s baby booms and baby busts.”

New Hampshire and other New England states have the lowest birth rates in the nation, and at the same time, fewer people are moving to the state, Barrick said.