5 Things You Missed at the School Committee Meeting

Budget cuts are eyed to meet Town Manager recommendations and the Superintendent updates the committee on the search for a new principal at Elmwood.

1. After a budget recommendation by Town Manager that is $127,000 lower than what the School Committee requested, members looked at what needs to be done to rectify the difference. Although Finance Director Ralph Dumas was not at the meeting, he did submit a list of ways to cut the difference out. The list included a reduction in the purchase and leasing of new copiers, the removal of a crossing guard and potential savings by having a new principal at Elmwood School next year. Two items on the list the committee did not agree with were cutting the replacement of several countertops at the Center School and not replacing some of the carpets at the Elmwood School. The committee did not make a final decision tonight but did establish that …

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School Committee Budget Addresses Many Concerns

In a year that the town asked all of it’s departments to turn in level funded budgets, the School Committee submitted a budget that was a 3.4 percent increase.

The School Committee has been working on their budget since December when Superintendent Jonathon Landman gave his preliminary budget recommendations. This weekend they approved a budget that comes in at a 3.42 percent increase over last year’s budget. In his initial presentation, Landman outlined some of the challenges the schools would face including increased costs for personnel, a lower amount of state aid and a request from the town to maintain level funding from last year. Since that presentation the committee has discussed the budget for each school with it's principal and has heard from many residents about cuts that were proposed. Two big concerns for town members were the cut of the drama classes at the Middle School and large …

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What We Learned on Patch

A Somber Week for Patch Readers

Some of the top stories from Hopkinton over the past week.

It’s been an emotional week for many residents of Hopkinton. On Tuesday we shared the news that Allison Lundy had lost her battle with cancer. Allison was a fifth grader at the Hopkins School. We also shared the story of Jackie and Ralph Potenzone. The Potenzone’s are struggling with the loss of Ralph’s job while trying to provide for a family in the slow economy. On a different note we featured an update on the school budget process. Since the article ran on Friday the school has passed a budget and they definitely took the community’s concerns into account. We will have a detailed article on the site tomorrow morning. What were your top stories this week? Share them in the comments.

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School Committee Looks to Decrease Class Size

As the School Committee continues to hear feedback from residents and parents, they begin to look into what can be done to lower the amount of students per class.

In a meeting that started with more than a dozen people speaking their mind during the public comment section of the evening, the school committee began to get down to the details of their fiscal year 2013 budget. One of the main discussions during public comment was the class size in what will be fourth and fifth grade next year. Both groups are projected to have more than 24 students per class; a number that many people felt is just too high. Many people in attendance went as far as putting together a petition to reduce the class size in those grades; it currently has more than 120 signatures. “Class size of 25 students is unmanageable and would not offer a conducive learning environment for elementary school students,” the petition says…

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Patch Facts

5 Things You Need to Know Today: Jan. 26

Two public forums tonight, one about the school's budget the other about the potential casino in Milford.

Our weekday morning column, 5 Things You Need to Know, provides you with information that can help you plan your day and give you some fodder for water cooler conversations. 1. Have a student in the public school system? The Hopkinton School Committee will be holding its annual Public Hearings on School Choice and the School District Budget at 7 p.m. in the Middle School Library.  Residents are encouraged to attend and share their opinions with the School Committee prior to votes being taken on both issues.  The Superintendent’s Proposed FY13 Budget can be reviewed on the district website at: http://www.hopkinton.k12.ma.us/newweb2/schoolcommittee/budget/12_13/FY13SuptPreliminaryBudget.pdf.    Anyone who is unable to attend the meeting on …

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What We Learned on Patch

Budget Talks and Two Barbaras Top Patch News

A look back at some of the stories that topped patch over the past week.

At Patch, Sunday morning means that it’s time to take look back at this week in Hopkinton news. With it getting to be the end of January, the town’s departments are really starting to get in to the nitty-gritty of their budgets. The Board of Selectmen heard presentations from the Capital Improvements Committee and the Community Preservation Committee about. The two groups presented the lists of projects that they had in the works for fiscal year ’13 and the years after. The School Committee also spent a large amount of time talking about budgets. At their meeting Thursday they had presentations about the high school, middle school and athletic department budgets. They also heard from many parents who were against a proposed cut at the …

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To Cut or Not To Cut, the Drama Class Decision

Last night many community members spoke to the School Committee about concerns with cutting the middle school drama class.

What was your favorite class in school? The answer may be different for everyone. If you had to cut a class from the middle school curriculum, what would it be? Once again, there are probably many different answers. The second question is one that Middle School Principal Alan Keller was forced to make as a part of his budget recommendation. Last night Keller presented his budget, which grew in some areas and shrank in others. The big sticking point with several School Committee members and other Hopkinton residents was the cut of the drama classes from the curriculum. “We were asked to make a reduction and I had to choose something. It’s my opinion that, although it won’t be as strong, we will still have a drama program after school and …

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Darlene Hayes

1:01 pm on Friday, January 20, 2012

Yes, I was a parent there last night and do not want to see drama cut as a related arts. I do feel it could be re-titled as something like "expressive communications" skills so its label represents more of what the class really is: oral communication skills, memorization, self dicipline, public speaking and presentations, theater history, play/role/character development, behind the scenes skills-…   more ›

Patch Facts

5 Things You Need to Know Today: Jan. 12

A wintery mix could snarl traffic this morning and tonight the selectmen will discuss the potential of merging with Ashland's fire department.

Our weekday morning column, 5 Things You Need to Know, provides you with information that can help you plan your day and give you some fodder for water cooler conversations. 1. The weather this morning might get pretty nasty, make sure to leave extra time when driving to the schools or work. Weather.com is saying that a wintery mix could fall through mid morning although no snow is expected to accumulate. 2. Interested in the schools budget process? During the School Committee working session tonight at 7 the board will look at the curriculum budget, special ed. budget, grounds budget and the technology budget. They will also be continuing their discussion about student fees. 3. We want to know how the winter weather (or lack thereof) has …

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New Website, Budget Talks and a Leaky Roof

In case you missed the School Committee meeting last night, here are five discussions that the board had.

The School Committee had a meeting last night where they saw presentations from various members of the school community. Here are five of the major discussions. 1. Elementary principals present preliminary budgets. All of the elementary principals presented the changes in enrollment and how that affects class sizes. They also presented specific staffing changes throughout their schools. All of their presentations were in line with the superintendent’s recommended budget . 2. The bus, athletic and full day kindergarten fees were discussed. As a part of their budget discussion, the committee had a conversation about the potential to increase fees. No decisions were made about the fees, but members of the committee did have a lengthy …

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Amy Ritterbusch

9:37 am on Friday, January 6, 2012

The new website looks awesome. Great job Kathy! I'm very excited as a parent to have a new district website.   more ›