CORNISH — Sending students in grades six to eight to the Plainfield Elementary School would increase education spending for Cornish taxpayers next year and in subsequent years, not provide a savings as school officials had previously projected.
Initially, the calculated net savings in the first year was projected to be about $145,000, but that figure was based on inaccurate enrollment figures, school officials discovered.
In reality, sending students to Plainfield would cost the town several hundreds of thousands of dollars more over the next several years than keeping middle school-age students at Cornish Elementary School .
“It looked like a cost savings for Cornish, but the projections were not accurate,” School Board Chairman Justin Ranney said in an interview Monday.
At the annual school district meeting on Saturday, voters will decide whether to tuition the middle school grades to Plainfield or have them remain in Cornish.
In the first year, the student population going to Plainfield would be 38, which is seven more than the original calculation.
If Cornish voters approve the agreement with Plainfield, the increased expense for the town would be $73,000 for the 2026-27 school year.
“So it would be an increase if the tuition model goes through,” Ranney said.
With two fewer students in 2027-28, the added cost is projected to be $43,000, SAU 100 Business Administrator Beth Bierwirth said.
For the 2028-29 school year, the added expense would increase to an estimated $146,000 because of the number of Cornish students and a 3% escalator in the tuition agreement, Bierwirth said.
In the fourth year — again because of fluctuating student counts — the added expense drops to $131,000 but then it is projected to steadily increase over the next three years.
Ranney said there has been enough discussion around town about tuitioning older students to Plainfield to bring the question to voters, even if the move would not reduce costs.
“The board felt it was important to bring this to the town to let them make a decision one way or another,” Ranney said. “It is not something the board is pushing for, but we are bringing forward what they had asked to see.”
Also on the warrant for Saturday’s meeting is a bond proposal for $11.4 million for renovations to the Cornish Elementary School and a budget of $5.7 million, which is an increase of less than 1% from this year, Ranney said.
The School District meeting will be held on Saturday, March 7 at 1 p.m. at the Cornish School gymnasium, 274 Town House Road. Voting to elect school district officers will be from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the same date and the same location.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.