Portsmouth school board asks council to fully fund budget to protect programs, add counseling and behavioral supports

Dr. McLaughlin, superintendent of Portsmouth schools, and school board members asked the Portsmouth City Council at a June 9, 2025 work session to fully fund the board's FY2026 budget proposal, saying it is designed to preserve current programs and repurpose positions from recent retirements to meet rising student‑support needs.

"Our request is that you fully fund the school board's proposal," Dr. McLaughlin said, framing the proposal as one of "preserving and then reinvesting, and not one that expands" the district's headcount beyond repurposed positions.

Board members described three strategic priorities the budget aims to support: a rigorous, aligned K‑12 curriculum; building staff capacity through professional learning; and student safety, well‑being and belonging. To address behavioral and social‑emotional needs that officials say persist after the pandemic, the board proposed a teacher to staff a middle‑school behavioral program intended to reduce out‑of‑district placements and keep students in district schools.

Board members and the superintendent said the proposal repurposes positions vacated through an early‑retirement incentive rather than adding net new headcount. They noted that roughly 80% of the school budget is personnel cost and urged that preserving the district's nationally recognized programs requires targeted reinvestments. The school presentation highlighted that two Portsmouth elementary schools have received national Blue Ribbon recognition and that the district ranks highly in the state.

Councilors pushed back on the requested increase and asked for more detail. The city manager and council had given guidance earlier in the year targeting a 2.9% municipal budget increase; the school board's proposal discussed at the session would raise the school budget by a higher rate (school presenters and councilors referenced an approximate 5.8% figure for the district's requested increase). Councilors expressed concern about residents' recent large tax increases and asked the district to identify redundancies and to show where repurposed positions can be shifted within existing headcount.

Several councilors highlighted a sharp rise in out‑of‑district special‑education placements as a budget pressure. One councilor summarized city figures showing an out‑of‑district increase of about $1.8 million this year; that figure was presented in council discussion as a major driver of the net increase and was described as a social cost the city must absorb.

School board members and some councilors emphasized the counseling director and middle‑school behavioral program as preventive investments. School board member Carrie, speaking from a health‑care perspective, said clinical supervision and a single point of contact for community partnerships are best practice and reduce the risk that casework will be handled inconsistently or that supports will be dropped.

No formal vote was taken at the session. Councilors asked the district for additional detail on curriculum work, staffing redeployments, and a simple overtime/coverage matrix that would show the expected operational impact if positions are filled. The council and board agreed to continue budget discussions in subsequent work sessions before the formal appropriation vote.