Superintendent Michael Delahanty worries that the penalty for not starting a kindergarten program could come at the cost of financial aid, though state officials have not made a clear decision on what actions may be taken.

Any of the 11 districts in the state without a kindergarten program by the start of the new school year could potentially face a loss of school approval for failing to put a kindergarten program into place, according to New Hampshire Department of Education Commissioner Lyonel Tracy.

Although Tracy said the state board had not yet arrived at a decision as to whether that would translate into lost state funding for any district that openly defied the legislation mandating kindergarten, Delahanty believes that a partial loss of state adequacy aid – just over $5 million for Salem – is a possibility.

“I believe that the state would realize that the withholding (all) of the money would have devastating consequence in the district and therefore they would not do that. Will they withhold some percentage of the money just to send a message? That’s a more real possibility than the full amount,” Delahanty said. “In our case the law requires us to have kindergarten. It’s on the books. We are obligated to provide kindergarten.”

Another possibility facing the district is the potential for a lawsuit filed by the parents of kindergarten-aged children.Now that the state has included kindergarten in the definition of an adequate education, Delahanty said there is a concern that the district is legally obliged to provide the program and could face a dispute with parents seeking to recoup the costs of sending their children to a private facility.

Whether Salem would have a kindergarten program in place to meet the state’s deadline was called into question earlier this month after the Budget Committee voted 5-4 to remove the program’s funding from the district’s operating budget. The School Board is hoping that voters will restore the $1.6 million during a Feb. 5 deliberative session.

If the funding were not restored, Delahanty has warned that the board may have to make tough decisions as to what programs they would need to cut from the budget to start up the new class, not just to avoid sanctions from the state, but to do the right thing, he said.

“It’s unfortunate that it has come to this, and we’re now mandated by the state. I believe it’s simply the right thing to do,” Delahanty said. “I would prefer to have had the community support a public program many years ago.”