What happens when a school district runs out of money just days before the first bell? In Claremont, NH, families are finding out the hard way. Facing a $1–5 million deficit, the school board cut 19 newly hired teachers and paraprofessionals before they even started, saving $1.8 million but leaving educators and students reeling.

And Claremont isn’t alone. Pittsfield overspent its budget by $1.9 million. Timberlane and Merrimack Valley slashed millions more. Behind these headlines lies a deeper story: the rising cost of special education and a broken funding model that leans too heavily on local property taxes.

In this episode of Off the Gravel Road, we explore:

• Why IEP numbers are climbing — with more kids being identified for autism, ADHD, and other needs than ever before.
• The cost difference: IEP students average $31,000 per year in services compared to $18,700 for non-IEP students, with the state covering only 17%.
• A clear message: we’re not anti-IEP. Every child deserves support. The challenge is giving schools the resources without breaking everything else.
• How property-poor towns like Claremont, Pittsfield, and Berlin face the hardest trade-offs.

But it’s not all crisis. We highlight solutions already happening here in New Hampshire:

• Forest school models that are spreading across the U.S., helping kids focus, cooperate, and thrive outdoors.
• Local programs like SOAR After-School, NH Farm Kids Daycare, Barn in the Woods, and the OWL Program at Barnstead Elementary, giving students hands-on learning rooted in community and land.
• And we hear from youth voices. Will, one of our own, explains adaptive grazing in plain English — showing how cattle, soil, and kids can all grow stronger together.

We close with Will’s reminder:

🎧 Stay tuned for a future episode where you’ll hear directly from Charlie and Eleanor, two local kids who spent their summer outdoors at TL Storer.