Allenstown is a property-poor town. It has no industrial base, and a large percentage of its housing is low-income. The combination makes for meager school funding, even with a crushing tax rate. But added to that, Allenstown shoulders an unusually heavy burden of special education. The state average is 11 percent.
Reasons vary for the district's high special education rate.
The departures and arrivals tended to fall around the time rent checks came due and couldn't be paid. Still others suggest that the disproportionate number of special education students has gotten worse as Allenstown has gotten better at dealing with the problem. Once Allenstown became known as a place that dedicated a large amount of its resources to special education, they say, families moved to the district to take advantage of the services. And still more special education staff are needed. School-wide there are more special education kids than we have staff.