MANCHESTER — Parents, teachers and students lined up at a Board of School Committee meeting Tuesday to decry extracurricular club cuts they said sent a bad message to the district’s most promising students.

Principals last week notified the teacher advisers for DECA, the FIRST robotics program, the National Honor Society and other after-school programs that their $800 stipends would be eliminated.

But after nearly two hours of impassioned testimony, the board voted to restore $109,000 in funding for adviser stipends. Mayor Ted Gatsas and members of the school board said they only found out about the cuts from angry parents the day of the meeting.

The cuts affected nearly all after-school programs, with the exception of athletics and music.

Program administrators appear to have responded differently to the announcement of the stipend cut, with some telling students that the clubs would be eliminated and others indicating they would find a way to continue.

“Regardless of the fact my stipend has been cut, I’m going to continue be an adviser,” said Judith Johnson, who oversees the DECA program — which focuses on marketing and business skills — at Memorial High School. “I can’t walk into that class and tell my 120 students that DECA no longer exists. I don want to jeopardize their scholarship opportunities.”

DECA adviser James Colby said the $800 stipend was modest compared to other districts.

“This menial to begin with; however, it’s the principle,” he said.

FIRST students

More than a dozen students addressed the school board, with members of the FIRST robotics program, which was founded in Manchester, wearing the club’s bright yellow shirts.

Anthony Nguyen, a National Honor Society member at Memorial and editor of the school newspaper, described “an overwhelming sense of fear” among students over how the possible elimination of such programs would affect their college prospects and ambitions.

“I get above-average grades. I’m not athletic. I’m not great at music. This is where I put most of my energy,” he said.

Nguyen added: “I’ll be frank, if I do go to college and come back, I would have to think twice about raising a family here.”

Parents said the cuts were sending a bad message.

“Can you imagine a high school cutting the National Honor Society? Who would move to Manchester knowing the high schools don’t even have NHS? What’s next? Maybe we can cut heat and water,” said Chris Conrad, who has been critical of class crowding and other problems facing the district this year.

Brennan: Wrong decision

Several parents criticized the way the cuts were made — six weeks into the school year and leaving little opportunity to organize fund-raising campaigns and other measures.

Members of the board shared in this criticism.

Superintendent Thomas Brennan said he made the ultimate decision to order school principals to make a one-third reduction in their extracurricular budgets, after what he said were months of delays on the part of the school leaders.

“At no time did we indicate what should be cut and not cut,” he said.

“Obviously I made the wrong decision in some people’s minds. No matter what would have been cut, if it was music, this chamber would have been full of people. Because our budget is so poor, this would happen.”

Brennan conceded that he did not inform the board when he made the decision to order principals to cut their extracurricular budgets.

Finding the money

The school board voted to approve two of Gatsas’ motions to restore funding for the extracurricular activities, by moving a $65,000 surplus that had been intended to cover the cost of three pending Requests for Proposals, and another $44,000 from the school supply account.

Gatsas said he would seek outside funding to support one of the RFPs, for a superintendent search, and that he and the board would figure out how to replenish the other accounts. “We’ll find a way,” he said.

The board was nearly unanimous in its support for the extracurricular programs.

“The problem is the message we’re sending, that these programs for high-achieving students are less important than sports,” said board member Sarah Ambrogi. “These are our future leaders. If we don’t restore this funding, I would consider it grounds to resign from this board.”

Board members were divided, however, on competing motions to reduce their own health care benefits and modest stipends to free up additional funds for the schools.

The board rejected a motion proposed by member Debra Gagnon Langton to raise health care premium rates to 50 percent.

By a vote of 8-5, the board did pass a motion proposed by member Donna Soucy to ask the aldermen to authorize raising the premium contribution rate to 25 percent.

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Ted Siefer may be reached at tsiefer@unionleader.com.