DERRY — The Fiscal Advisory Committee presented a preliminary budget of $103.4 million to the School Board Tuesday night.
“When you’re doing your homework over the next week, the question I have for everyone here is to give these guys some guidance” on a final budget number, said School Board Chair David Clapp. “I know it’s a tough question to ask … but I think it’s prudent for us to do that.”
In March, residents turned down a proposed budget of $103.5 million, along with warrant articles for $36.8 million in school renovations and $71.2 million for the design, construction and furnishing of a new elementary school building.
The school year 2025-26 proposed budget saw the biggest changes in three areas: furniture and equipment, which would increase from $58,000 to $288,100; repairs, which went from $1.5 million to $1.8 million; and supplies, which grew from $1.1 million to $1.2 million.
Repairs needed at almost all of the schools, Simard said.
“At the end of this presentation you’re going to see the capital projects that we’re looking to go out on a warrant,” Finance Director Jane Simard said. “These are maintenance items that we would like to include in the budget so that’s why I itemized them by school.”
East Derry, Barka, Grinnell, Hood, South Range, and West Running Brook all need maintenance to their parking lots and new vinyl and carpet flooring, Simard said.
East Derry also needs a dividing wall replaced; Barka needs culvert repairs; Grinell needs window caulking and sealing and a loading dock replacement; Hood needs its front stairway replaced; South Range needs to replace its oil pump control system; and, West Running Brook needs a roof drain replacement.
Other projects include replacing the roofs at East Derry, Hood, Grinnell, and South Range, along with projects to replace Barka’s interior and exterior doors. Window replacements are needed at several buildings, and the HVAC system at South Range needs to be upgraded. A warrant article would ask residents to allocate a total of $24.3 million for those repairs.
There will be four more budget review sessions at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 4, Nov. 19, Dec. 3, and Dec. 17 at West Running Brook Intermediate School, 1 West Running Brook Lane, before the budget public hearing at 6 p.m. on Jan. 14 at the Derry Municipal Center, 14 Manning St.