First they cut $561,000. Then $400,000 more.

But parents said it was time to stop when a proposal for $600,000 in yet more reductions was aired at the deliberative session of School District Meeting at Goffstown High School on Feb. 2.

“As a business owner, I too am worried by the economy. We’re a small custom cabinetry shop. I’m scared. However, I am equally scared by the proposed school budget,” said Dian McCarthy, whose two sons are at Maple Avenue Elementary and Glen Lake schools.

McCarthy, who volunteers at the schools, said students in portable classrooms at Maple Avenue had to put on their coats and cross a driveway to use the bathroom during the winter.

She warned Goffstown was bringing more special education students from out-of-district institutions back into its schools at the same time it is cutting some special education positions.

Plus, she said the district is replacing experienced teachers with less expensive personnel.

“I’ve heard it said … that the town has continually gone to the well of taxpayers, and that the well is dry,” McCarthy added.

“It appears to me that for many, the solution has been to hatchet away at the school budget. Guess what? That well is dry too.”

The budget will now appear on the ballot as $34,660,647. For the first time, the proposal is less than the default budget, which is $35,635,675, according to School Board Chairman Keith Allard.

The default is the previous year’s budget, plus any contractual obligations, minus any one-time expenses. If voters reject the proposed budget, the district would operate on the default.

The latest $400,000 cut eliminates seven positions: an administrator, secretary, special education teacher, reading teacher, behavior specialist, elementary teacher and elementary teaching aide. Those positions are existing ones, not proposed for next year, according to Allard. He said the district would try to leave as many of those positions vacant by not replacing retiring teachers. He added that any layoffs would be determined after the March election, when voters approve a budget.

Before that, the School Board and Budget Committee had already agreed to lower the budget by about $561,000 by trimming the spending on everything from supplies, equipment, and furniture to taking out $10,000 for high school field trips and $500 for the high school senior barbecue.

But some taxpayers were dissatisfied with the cuts, saying the severe economic situation warranted even more. One resident, Enid Mackenzie, proposed a $595,000 cut.

“I just don’t feel that you’ve considered the economy and the dire situation of people all around us. It’s bad news day after day after day and the budget is so much higher than last year,” Mackenzie said.

Mackenzie’s motion to cut $595,000 – both supported and opposed by several other speakers – was ultimately defeated on a voice vote.