The SAU 53 superintendent said he and other school officials throughout the state are in the dark about reports that the governor’s proposed budget could greatly reduce state funding to school districts, including Pembroke, Allenstown and Epsom.

“Other than the news articles, we haven’t seen anything,” said SAU 53 Superintendent Tom Haley. “Nothing official is out there.”

A daily paper reported that the governor’s proposed budget calls to give all New Hampshire school districts a flat 5 percent increase in state adequacy funding. Most school districts have already firmed up their own proposed budgets, some of which call for dramatically higher amounts of revenue from the state, as projected in November by the state Board of Education.

Allenstown’s operating budget projects a 7.8 percent increase, while Pembroke’s budget shows an 18 percent increase. Epsom’s proposed budget predicts a 41 percent spike in state aid. The governor’s budget would mean that Allenstown could be short in state aid by $108,000, while Pembroke and Epsom could each be out more than $550,000.

If the school budgets in those towns pass, local property taxpayers would be left to make up the loss in revenue. But Haley, who said he hasn’t received any formal notification of the governor’s plan from the state Department of Education, the Department of Revenue Administration or the governor’s office, said he’s not sure what to make of the news.

“It’s something we don’t know an awful lot about,” said Haley. “We’re all a little bit in the dark right now.”

Haley said his impression is that in order for the governor’s reported plan to work, it would have to gain favor from the Legislature to override previous legislation that allowed school districts to count on projections from the state education department. He said it could potentially be months before school districts know exactly where they stand.

“It’s awfully hard to react to something we know so little about,” he said.