Manchester Essex School Committee Moves Toward Dedicated Middle School Principal Search

ESSEX -- November 4, 2025, Manchester Essex School Committee reviews student achievement data and signals opposition to elementary school reconfiguration options. At the November 4 meeting, Superintendent Ben Bowden presented a preliminary operational cost analysis showing that splitting grades 4 and 5 from Essex Elementary to Manchester Memorial would cost approximately $225,000 more per year, while consolidating all elementary students at Memorial would save only about $32,800 annually before accounting for tennis court displacement costs of up to $100,000 per year. Committee members expressed near-unanimous opposition to both alternatives, with one Essex-based member calling the split model "a non-starter on all fronts." Separately, the district's curriculum team reported that students identified as high needs now represent 30.1 percent of enrollment, 358 students, up from 19.3 percent in 2015, with low-income identification as the primary driver. The regional high school was named a DESE School of Recognition for 2024-2025, and 86 percent of 390 Advanced Placement tests taken last year received a passing score of 3 or above. Finance Director Pam reported the district finished fiscal year 2025 with $68,000 in turnbacks on a $32 million budget, leaving the excess and deficiency reserve at a projected 5.67 percent of budget, down from 8.42 percent the prior year, with health insurance projected to rise as much as 20 percent heading into fiscal year 2026.