High School

New Hampshire school board votes to cut out sports at a state championship-winning high school

According to a report, Jaffrey-Rindge school board approved a budget cutting plan that would include ridding of athletics at a state championship-winning New Hampshire high school

Andy Villamarzo

Conant High School (New Hampshire) has won 21 NHIAA state championships
Conant High School (New Hampshire) has won 21 NHIAA state championships / Conant Athletics/X

According to a report by Keene Sentinel's Michael M. McMahon, the Jaffrey-Rindge School Board in New Hampshire has approved a $3-million cost cutting plan which will include the elimination of the entire competitive athletics department at Conant High School. The cuts were necessitated after voters elected to slash the boards budget.

The Orioles are not just some run-of-the-mill high school in the state of New Hampshire, as Conant features prominent basketball programs on both the boys and girls side. Between the two programs, since 1985, they have won a total of 21 state championships in basketball.

According to the report, the Jaffrey School Board had to slash $3 million from its budget and part of that total was the $366,978 athletic budget. That total is apart of the cost cutting plan in order to meet their budget plan for the 2025-2026 school year and beyond.

According to the report, voters knew that the cost cutting measure would remove athletics moving forward, but community members are looking at other solutions in order to maintain competitive sports.

Fundraising the funds needed to run athletics are being looked at, per the report, but as it stands right now, Conant is facing a future with high school sports not being apart of it.

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-- Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @highschoolonsi

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Andy Villamarzo
ANDY VILLAMARZO

Andy Villamarzo has been a sports writer in the Tampa Bay (FL) Area since 2007, writing for publications such as Tampa Bay Times, The Tampa Tribune, The Suncoast News, Tampa Beacon, Hernando Sun to name a few. Andy resides out of the Tarpon Springs, FL area and started as a writer with SB Live Sports in the summer of 2022 covering the Tampa Bay Area. He has quickly become one of Florida's foremost authorities on high school sports, appearing frequently on podcasts, radio programs and digital broadcasts as an expert on team rankings, recruiting and much more.

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