Education commissioner briefs committee on budget priorities: robotics caps, Discovery platform, adult diploma funding

Frank Adeluk, identified at the hearing as Commissioner of Education, presented the Department of Education’s budget overview and prioritized needs to the committee, detailing funding flows, program uses and policy questions.

Adeluk and Tammy Valancourt, chief financial officer, described the department as primarily a pass-through agency: revenue arrives from general funds, federal funds and education trust funds and is passed on to local school districts. Adeluk highlighted the department’s concern with how some line items had moved between the Education Trust Fund and the general fund in House action and asked legislators to note those classifications when reviewing totals.

On the robotics education dedicated fund that had been discussed earlier in the hearing, Adeluk said the department treats the fund balance as “obligated” by grants awarded to districts and recommended amending bill language to reflect that practice. The department reported strong demand and a waiting list for robotics grants; staff told senators the House budget provided about $483,000 a year in general fund support for robotics in the House proposal, versus $750,000 previously proposed by the governor.

The department described the Discovery Education platform as a widely used, state-purchased instructional resource rolled out during COVID to give schools shared access to multimedia curricular materials. Adeluk said Discovery is used in every New Hampshire school and that state purchase eases local cost burdens. The department also described a separate contract of roughly $1 million to develop a New Hampshire civics curriculum; that contract was in soft launch with broader rollout planned for the September school year.

Senators questioned adult education funding and possible double payment for some students. Adeluk and Division Director Melissa White said about 1,700 students in the department’s adult-diploma programs were nevertheless paid for via state adequacy funding and that federal funds could not be used for the state-paid diploma program. The department said the adult-diploma program population is distinct from HiSET test takers and that the legislature could consider fund-flow changes (for example, directing adequacy dollars to adult education centers for the students they serve) or restore the one-time House funding. Adeluk offered to help draft amendment language if the committee wanted to pursue formal changes.

On safety and infrastructure, Adeluk reiterated the department’s support for ongoing public school infrastructure funding and said the House budget reflected funds for building aid and a $10 million Public School Infrastructure Fund for safety and security grants. He also described a proposed PSAT-like ninth-grade assessment to provide an additional high-school data point to support early intervention.

Adeluk reviewed reductions and transfers in the House budget: cuts to student-wellness positions, changes tied to federal grant expirations (e.g., youth risk behavior survey moved to Health and Human Services), and adjustments to adult education and robotics funding. The department said several one-time appropriations from the previous biennium—student clearinghouse access, MTSSB work, computer science education—would not necessarily continue without targeted funding.

Committee members asked for clarifications on specific line items; Adeluk and staff agreed to provide written language and to follow up on technical drafting (for example, robotic fund terminology and the House/House Bill 2 line-item placements).