The Parks & Recreation Commission engaged in an extended debate about financial aid policies during its meeting Monday night.

Jon Lewitus, director of the Parks & Recreation Department, brought the matter before the commission in the hopes of amending and updating the existing policy.

Currently, Parks & Rec offers households in need of assistance a $1,500 annual credit that can be used for department programs such as Babe Ruth baseball, ski programs and more. 

Lewitus explained he wanted to discuss changing the policy to award funds per person rather than per household. In the model he proposed, beneficiaries would receive $1,000 in credits each.

Lewitus hopes amending the policy will help, in part, with enforcement. He described the current income verification process as “loosey-goosey” and hoped an updated financial aid policy could help resolve these issues.

Additionally, he asked for guidance on asking for reimbursement for the financial assistance program from the town. The department excludes the amounts it awards in aid from its annual budget currently.

“I’d like to go and add that as a general fund line for Parks & Rec so we’re recouping money and awarding financial assistance,” Lewitus explained.

The commission debated at length how to update the policy. Several members took issue with Lewitus’ proposal to allow adults to be included in financial aid awards.

“We don’t have anywhere near the amount of programs for adults,” vice chair Amy O’Donnell said.

She brought up the idea of changing the policy so that recipients were awarded a certain number of registrations per year rather than an allowance.

“[It’s] less about the money and more about the experience,” said O’Donnell.

Other members worried this could lead to inequities in accessing Parks & Rec programs.

After more discussion, commission members expressed interest in retaining the per-household model. 

However, they agreed the amount of financial aid should be increased, voting unanimously to raise the cap to $3,000 per household. Minor changes in the wording of the policy were adopted as well.

The commission directed Lewitus to discuss reimbursement for financial aid with town officials as well.

Lewitus gets positive performance review

Commission members took time to discuss and complete Lewitus’ first performance review as Hopkinton’s Parks & Rec Director.

The commission reviewed documentation sent over by the town’s Human Resources Department. Members went through different aspects of Lewitus’ performance over the past year and rated him according to the criteria.

“There’s a lot of things I’ve seen [Lewitus] take initiative on and approach in a really good way,” said chair Dan Terry.

Lewitus recently began his second year on the job. He was hired in September 2023 to replace Jay Guelfi, who retired after serving in the role for eight years.

While commission members had positive remarks regarding Lewitus’ performance, their opinions differed on how to rate him based on the scale given on the review document.

“I think he’s as good as he can be in one year,” O’Donnell said, advocating for a more modest rating. 

The commission agreed that there were some gaps in Lewitus’ performance — particularly around mentorship — that were issues of access and therefore hard to evaluate. 

Members suggested Lewitus connect with the town manager, Elaine Lazarus, to find those opportunities in the coming year.

Commission members completed Lewitus’ review, rating him as an “excellent performer” who “achieves and sometimes exceeds expectations.” The documents will go to the town’s Human Resources Department for review.