Timberlane students press board on equity; board directs administration to seek funds for fully funded full‑day kindergarten and creates 1.0 FTE

High school students in the Timberlane Regional School District presented a class project on school funding and urged the school board to prioritize student supports such as theatre, cleaner bathrooms, athletic field repairs and crossing guards. After a separate ad hoc committee report on tuition‑based full‑day kindergarten and a lengthy discussion about budget tradeoffs, the board voted to ask the superintendent to identify $150,000 in existing funds to fully fund full‑day kindergarten for the 2025–26 school year and separately voted to convert two half‑time kindergarten positions into one 1.0 full‑time equivalent (FTE).

The students said their classroom exercise, conducted with the New Hampshire Funding Fairness Project, showed how local funding responsibility creates disparities: “It was surprising to all of us that New Hampshire towns are responsible for the majority of funding in our schools,” student Gracie Griffiths said during the presentation. The students handed the board a set of short notes summarizing what they called “highlights” (programs the district does well) and “requests”…