By Ryan O'Connor
Staff Writer

Although construction for a kindergarten in Goffstown has been approved and construction begun, several citizens at the deliberative session of School District Meeting on Feb. 6 still voiced concern over the ramifications the new kindergarten will have on the operating budget.

During his presentation at the deliberative session, school board member Scott Gross explained the cost to run the kindergarten will be roughly $650,000, based on a projection of 150-170 part-time students.

“It’s one of the few things we actually know,” said Gross. “A lot of the things with the budget change and kind of teeter-totter, but with the kindergarten, it’s pretty much a fixed cost.”

He further explained that although $650,000 seems high, it includes projected costs of special education students, a nurse, and a staff of certified teachers, all of which many private kindergartens do not have.

Moreover, Gross said, the entire $650,000 will not come from local taxes, as the state will provide $1,200 in bridging aid per part-time student, bringing the total down to $450,000 to $470,000, depending on the number of students who enroll.

The tax impact of the kindergarten will then be approximately 34 to 38 cents per $1,000 of property value.

“We’re not very off the original cost projections of $380,000 that we advised the voters of two or three years ago,” said Gross. “That is why I am kind of surprised at the questions from the School District Meeting. All of these costs and projections were outlined in our original proposal.”

If the operating budget is voted down, Gross said the kindergarten costs are not included in the default budget, which would make it extremely difficult to open in 2006 without significant cuts in other areas.

“People voted to approve the building of kindergarten. Now we are asking the voters to actually appropriate the funding to the school,” he said. “It’s step two of the process.”

Gross said the school board appreciates the community support and hopes for it to continue on March 14 with the approval of Articles 2 and 3. If approved, he said the articles will complete the construction of the facility and raise the funds necessary to open the kindergarten on time this fall.

“We’re ready to open up the school now. We just need the voters’ approval,” he said.

Gross also wanted to remind residents to not lose sight of the reason they originally voted in favor of the kindergarten in the first place.

“The need for kindergarten has not diminished over the years and although there’s been a lot of discussion about the bricks and mortar, building the school, taxes, and land use appeals and things of that nature, the reality is that 72 percent of incoming first-graders at the Bartlett School were reading below grade level,” said Gross. “I just think that underscores the critical need for kindergarten and all the more reason we need to finish building the school and get it open this fall.”

“The bread and butter of it is: It’s for the kids,” he added.