CONCORD — State education officials say the recently approved moratorium on new charter schools has been in the works for some time.

Not enough money was set aside for charter schools under the state adequacy grants in this fiscal year's operating budget, they say, so they have no choice but to halt the program until more money is available.

State Board of Education Chairman Tom Raffio said the board began discussing the charter school shortfall this spring and then delved into the problem at a strategic session in July.

The board's meeting on July 18 was a retreat held at the Centennial Inn in Concord, with only board members and Department of Education Commissioner Virginia Barry and Deputy Commissioner Paul Leather attending.

The minutes of the meeting note that the current status of charter schools was discussed and that the board wants to meet with the Attorney General prior to its September meeting to talk about the charter school approval process.

“We have spent an extraordinary amount of hours on this. We support charter schools and are trying to find ways to make it work until the Legislature comes up with the money,” Raffio said. “We spent time with the Attorney General's office to make sure all our ducks were in a row. We did not try to spring this on anybody.”

Leather said it became apparent this spring that the projections indicated that the per student grants to charter schools would be more than the budgeted amount.

He said with the current enrollment, projections are charter schools would receive about $14 million in state aid in both adequacy grants, and $3,450 and $2,000 in fiscal disparity aid for a total of $5,450 per student.

“We are already overextended in (fiscal year) 2013 by about $5 million,” Leather said, noting that he informed House and Finance committees of the problem.

House Finance Committee member Rep. Will Smith, R-New Castle, said there will be a meeting Tuesday with Department of Education officials about the issue.

“We researching to see if the board has the authority to put a moratorium on or if that's the Legislature's responsibility,” Smith said. “Education, particularly charter schools, is a high priority of this Legislature.”

Smith said that when the budget was developed last year, the department projected that charter schools would cost less than lawmakers' estimated.

He said lawmakers put the department's figure in the budget with the understanding that the department would come back and ask for more if it were needed.

Department officials asked for $300,000 more this fiscal year, which it is expected to find within its own budget, and $5 million next year, which would be in the budget lawmakers have to approve next June, Smith said.

Leather said eight new charter schools were approved over the past two years. “We've had strong requests to move forward as they have come in from both sides of the aisle,” he said, “but to be fiscally prudent we had to let them know (the money may not be there.)” He said that when the board looks at an application, the school has to be fiscally viable for two years and with the current budget situation, such schools cannot assume the state money will be there.

There are currently 18 charters schools operating in New Hampshire, according to the department. Leather said there are 15 applications before the board affected by the moratorium.

“They could come back when the financial situation is resolved,” Leather said.

Raffio said that under the financial circumstances, the board had an obligation to deny the applications.

“We feel bad about it because charter schools have a nitch, but we need to put a moratorium in so we don't have schools get up and running and then the money does not come through,” Raffio said.

“Charter schools work. When a child is in the right environment and finds a nitch, they thrive.”

He noted there is another process that charter schools can use, which is to approach the local school board for approval.

That approach failed in the past as school districts balked at supporting both existing schools and a new charter school.

As a result, federal money was found to help with start up costs and the State Board of Education was given authority to approve charter schools.

Several years ago, charter schools successfully lobbied lawmakers to include charter schools under the state adequacy grants, which helped bring financial stability to many of the schools.

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Garry Rayno may be reached at grayno@unionleader.com.