Chariho school committee deadlocks on FY27 budget after heated debate, faces legal deadline

The Chariho (Cherry Hill Regional) School Committee met March 10 for more than three hours of public comment and debate but did not reach an immediate, recorded adoption of its fiscal year 2027 budget. Members sparred over a proposed 4.99 percent budget baseline and several amendment proposals as towns and parents pressed to protect programs and limit tax impacts.

The meeting opened with routine recognitions and public forum rules, then turned to the budget. A committee motion to adopt the FY27 budget at a 4.99 percent increase was moved and seconded and drew rounds of committee and public remarks about student achievement, town-by-town impacts, and program priorities. Committee member Ed Lowe questioned multi-year performance trends and argued single-year comparisons mask flat long-term results; Superintendent Gina defended the budget as an investment in students and pointed to improvements in graduation rates.

Public speakers, including parents and students, urged the committee to preserve arts, extracurriculars and special education supports. Several speakers criticized the district's heavy use of screens in early grades and asked for a policy review. One resident proposed a $500,000 cut; others urged $750,000 to $1.5 million reductions. A motion to cut a $34,459.28 line item for virtual high-school courses (line 5046) was debated and put to an immediate vote; the amendment failed and the line item remained in the proposed budget.

Legal counsel John Anderson told the committee the Charahoe Act requires the district to adopt a final proposed budget "not later than the third Tuesday in March," warning that failure to do so could trigger state involvement and limit spending to one-twelfth monthly allocations under maintenance-of-effort rules. "If you don't adopt a budget, there is nothing to present to the voters," the attorney said, summarizing statutory consequences for missing the deadline.

The committee attempted several approaches to reach consensus, including votes and proposed dollar amounts for cuts; at least one formal attempt to adopt the superintendent's proposed budget failed on a committee vote earlier in the evening. Because the transcript does not record a conclusive roll-call result for the final late motion on the record provided, the meeting left the committee still working to finalize a version to present to voters and to meet the legal deadline.

On related action items the committee approved a transfer of $125,000 from the fund balance to cover additional snow-removal costs and voted unanimously to table bond language for the proposed capital request. The committee also directed the policy subcommittee to review the district's 1-to-1 device policy following repeated public concerns.

Next steps: the committee needs to adopt and post a final proposed budget before the legal deadline identified by counsel so voters can be presented with a clear item to approve or reject; otherwise the auditor general may become involved under state law.