hopkinton-independent-logo2x
Hopkinton, MA
loader-image
Hopkinton, US
11:53 am, Thursday, December 12, 2024
temperature icon 39°F
Humidity 55 %
Wind Gust: 10 mph

SIGN UP TODAY!
BREAKING NEWS & DAILY NEWSLETTER





School Committee considers requesting funds from Legacy Farms HCA to bolster FY22 budget

by | Jan 5, 2021 | Education, Featured: Education

Hopkinton School Committee members will decide at an upcoming meeting whether to request $500,000 from the Legacy Farms host community agreement to bolster the Fiscal Year 2022 budget.

The request, if approved by the committee, would be made in the form of a warrant article at May’s Annual Town Meeting.

The money would be used if enrollment figures exceed current budget projections and require the hiring of additional teachers, superintendent Carol Cavanaugh said at the School Committee’s Monday night meeting.

The host agreement balance now stands at $2 million, school finance director Susan Rothermich said, with an additional $2 million expected in fiscal 2021.

The request, if approved, would be moved into the stabilization fund, which the School Committee could access if needed, committee chair Amanda Fargiano said.

The money would be used only if enrollment figures require the additional money, she said. Spending is not mandated.

“Allocation doesn’t mean we’re spending it, it just means it puts it in the purview of the School Committee,” she said.

The request would cover an unanticipated 100 extra students, which Cavanaugh said “could happen,” especially in a time of uncertainty. The request would fund the addition of seven teachers at a cost of $70,000 each.

The budget request currently accounts for 74 new students.

Committee member Joe Markey said the request “makes sense,” should the funds be needed, but urged judicious use of the money. The host agreement funding is capped at $4 million, he noted, which makes careful spending especially important.

If the article was not placed on the warrant and additional funding was needed, a Special Town Meeting would have to be called, Fargiano said.

The money “can sit there” if not needed, she said. But, “We can’t access it if we don’t have it,” she said.

The committee will host further budget discussions at its next two meetings, Jan. 11 and Jan. 19.

At Monday’s meeting Cavanaugh presented a tentative FY22 budget of $54,153,911, an increase of a little less than 6 percent from the current budget of $51,206,402.

0 Comments

Related Articles

Police understaffing underpins ‘angst’ over school safety

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aVlIucXFPo In her report to the School Committee Thursday night, Superintendent Carol Cavanaugh spent time describing the district’s training in school safety during intruder incidents. The information came following an episode...

Hopkinton welcomes new school administrators

As a youngster, Lauren McDonough wanted to be a pediatrician and help children. Rachel Ritchie played school with her brother, teaching and assigning homework. And Cherie Kent played school in a makeshift classroom her father, who was a teacher, created in the...

Lauren McDonough

School Committee seeks survey input on name for new elementary school

The Hopkinton School Committee announced Thursday that is seeking community input to narrow the list of names for the new elementary school via a survey. Since the district issued a press release in January requesting suggestions for potential names, nearly 50...

ESBC school design-overview

Hopkinton schools ranked No. 1 in state

The Hopkinton Public School district was ranked first in Niche’s 2024 Best Schools and Districts rankings for Massachusetts. Hopkinton also is ranked as being the best place to teach, and as having the best teachers. “It’s really nice to have that first ranking...

Hopkinton Public Schools sign
Key Storage 4.14.22