Disnard Elementary sets food support deadline before April break

Families needing food support during April vacation had to act quickly at Disnard Elementary School, where SAU 6 set a Wednesday, April 22 deadline for parents and caregivers to email Courtney Porter and get on the list before school broke for the week.

The notice said Porter needed to submit food orders to local stores on Friday, April 24, and that pickup details would go only to families who pre-registered. For households that depend on school-day meals, missing the cutoff meant missing the district’s break-time distribution window.

The reminder fit a pattern Disnard and SAU 6 have used during other school breaks. A December holiday notice told families in need to contact Porter directly at cporter@sau6.org or 603.558.5760 and said she would be working several days during the break. A February break notice said supplemental food items were being provided with support from Dartmouth Health and the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation’s Fund for Greater Claremont.

The timing also mattered in Claremont, where school finances and staffing have been under heavy strain. NHPR reported in 2025 that the Claremont School District faced a deficit of between $1 million and $5 million, cut 39 positions, and later terminated 19 new hires. On April 23, 2026, Timothy Broadrick was named the district’s new superintendent, underscoring how much pressure remains on the school system even as it tries to keep basic support services in place.

The food reminder also lands against broader need in the city. The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation has said nearly half the children in Claremont are eligible for free or reduced-price school lunch, and it has described the local safety net as a shared effort among the district, the Claremont Soup Kitchen and Food Pantry, and the New Hampshire Food Bank. Statewide, the foundation has said nearly 10 percent of New Hampshire residents, including more than 13 percent of children, experience food insecurity.

For Disnard families, the message was simple and urgent: if April vacation meant a food gap at home, the deadline had already been set, the orders had to be placed, and the support depended on getting on Porter’s list in time.