This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Preliminary 2012-13 School Budget

Some thumbs up, some thumbs down and some mixed bag in next year's preliminary school budget

Superintendent Landman presented his preliminary 2012-13 (FY13) school budget at the Dec. 20 School Committee meeting. Some highlights are included below. Please note that nothing is final at this point, this is just the beginning of a process. The School Committee will provide feedback to the Superintendent who will then refine the budget before the School Committee votes on a budget to submit to the Town Manager by the Feb. 1 deadline. If you have an opinion, question, comment or concern about any part of the budget you should feel free to contact the School Committee hpsschoolcommittee@hopkinton.k12.ma.us and Superintendent jlandman@hopkinton.k12.ma.us at any time. You may also voice your opinion publicly at the School Budget Public Hearing coming up on Jan. 26.

Thumbs Up:

  • Maintains close to level services for 2012-13
  • Continues to work toward Strategic Plan goals such as:
    • Aligning our math curriculum with Common Core standards
    • Intervention Pyramid for struggling students
    • 21st Century Learning (such as online classes at the HS)
    • Technology Infrastructure Updates, such as replacing teacher laptops that are more than 5 years old
    • Critical Language (Mandarin) at the HS
    • Exploration of how to add the study of world languages to grade 6 and below
  • Create a school bus parking lot in town to save fuel, as well as save on excise tax paid to the other town where our buses currently park.

 

Find out what's happening in Holliston-Hopkintonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Thumbs Down:

  • $707,268 Decrease in budget offsets from last year such as state circuit breaker special education funding and education job grants
  • Increased class sizes in grades K, 1, 4, 6 and 8 (see chart below)
  • More high school classes with over 25 students (17% this year vs 20% next year)
  • A net cut of 2.6 Staff Members compared to last year (a net cut of 20.4 staff members since the 2006-07 school year)

 

Find out what's happening in Holliston-Hopkintonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Proposed Class Sizes:

Grade Strategic Plan Guideline 2011-12 2012-13 Proposed Change PreK n/a 19 18 Decrease K 19-21 21 22 Increase to above guideline 1 19-21 21 22 Increase to above guideline 2 22-24 24 24 Same 3 22-24 24 20 Decrease 4 22-24 22 24 Increase 5 22-24 25 25 Same but still above guideline 6 n/a 19 22 Increase 7 n/a 23 18 Decrease 8 n/a 17 23 Increase

Mixed Bag:

  • Increase student bus fees from $210 to $250 per year
  • Increase student athletic fee from $125 to $200 per sport
  • Increase student parking fee from $210 to $250 per year
  • Assess a daycare drop-off bus fee of $100 per student
  • Creation of a “walking zone” and elimination of the bus for Middle School and High School students living close enough to walk to school.

 

Summary of the Preliminary 2012-13 Budget:
$32,957,722 This Year’s Approved Budget 2011-12
+$1,518,755 Fixed Cost Payroll Increases (contractual obligations)
+$62,401 Other Fixed Cost Increases
___________
$34,538,878 Level Services 2012-13 Budget
+$285,425 Strategic Initiatives
+$71,000 Extraordinary Maintenance
-$69,342 Cost Cutting Measures
-$208,368 New Revenue (Fees)
-$359,608 Net Staff Positions Cut
_________
$34,260,733 Total Preliminary 2012-13 Budget

 

Budget Meeting Dates - Not Televised:

School Committee Meeting
Thurs., Jan. 5, 2012 @ 7:00 PM
Middle School Library, 88 Hayden Rowe St
Regular Meeting/Working Session - FY13 Budget Topics: Center School, Elmwood School, Hopkins School, Draft Town Meeting Articles, Daycare Drop-Off Fee, Bus Fee, Full-Day Kindergarten Fee

School Committee Meeting
Thurs., Jan. 12, 2012 @ 7:00 PM
Middle School Library, 88 Hayden Rowe St
Working Session/FY13 Budget Topics: Special Education, Buildings and Grounds, Central Office, Curriculum, Technology, Town Meeting Articles

School Committee Meeting
Thurs., Jan. 19, 2012 @ 7:00 PM
Middle School Library, 88 Hayden Rowe St
Regular Meeting/Working Session - FY13 Budget Topics: Middle School, High School, Athletics, Town Meeting Articles, Athletic Fee, Parking Fee, F1 Visa Tuition, Walking Zone, 1:1 Laptop Initiative, Bus Parking Lot

School Committee Meeting
Mon., Jan. 23, 2012 @ 6:30 PM
Middle School Library, 88 Hayden Rowe St
Joint meeting with the Board of Selectmen

School Committee Meeting
Thurs., Jan. 26, 2012 @ 7:00 PM
Middle School Library, 88 Hayden Rowe St
Public Hearing – FY13 Budget
ATTENTION! If you can only attend one school committee meeting a year, this is the most important one to attend. It is your chance to voice your opinion on the budget.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?