The Hopkinton School Committee on Thursday heard about a wall collapse at the Hopkins School addition/renovation project site and revisited cutting $415,000 from its fiscal year 2026 budget.

Jeff D’Amico, managing director for Vertex (owner’s project manager) and Rob Blanchard, project executive for Commodore Builders, appeared before the committee to discuss the incident.

Blanchard said the mast climber used to erect walls inside the new gym for some unknown reason collapsed  Wednesday morning. Blanchard said the collapse was not “catastrophic,” in that it did not have its legs break.

Instead, he said, “it eased itself down.” However, it connected to a section of wall measuring 8 feet wide by 30 feet tall. The wall was knocked over and then fell across the job site, landing just shy of the emergency egress walkway, Blanchard explained.

There were no injuries nor additional property damage. The job site was evacuated and workers dismissed for the day, he added.

Police and fire personnel, the building inspector and school administrators arrived quickly at the scene, with Superintendent Carol Cavanaugh calling their response “admirable.” She noted, “It was an unfortunate incident, but all hands were on deck, and it was handled well.”

The superintendent said the priority was to ensure all staff and students were safe and to communicate with parents, students and families.

Blanchard said the incident did not occur on the “critical path,” meaning the northern half of the building, so it would not cause delays or halt construction.

He said investigations are underway by his firm, the OPM and safety inspector as well as the manufacturer of the mast climber and masonry company to determine the cause.

An engineering report is to determine whether there is structural damage to the foundation.

D’Amico said the plan Friday is to “remobilize,” remove debris and await the completed reports. Other work will proceed “as the intensity of the schedule plays out elsewhere,” D’Amico said.

In answer to a question from School Committee member Chris Masters, D’Amico said the entity found to be the responsible party will be required to pay for the costs.

Budget approved with reduction

In other business, the School Committee approved a revised FY 26 budget of $66,775,630, which is $415,000 less than what previously was voted.

Last month, following a directive from the town manager, building principals met with administrators to come up with a plan for the reduction.

Recommended was a cut of $105,000 for an ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) teacher, for a person who is resigning and would not be replaced.

Also, funding for a district paraprofessional would become grant funded at $125,000, and a reading tutor request at Hopkins School would be reduced from full time to 0.75 FTE (full-time equivalent) for a savings of $10,000.

Most of the School Committee discussion at that time focused on the elimination of five FTE paraprofessional A positions — three at the high school, one at Hopkins School and one at Elmwood School. That reduction would save $150,000.

The district also raised fees at the Marathon preschool to generate $25,000 to get to the requested figure.

Attending the meeting were Hopkinton High School Principal Evan Bishop, Hopkins Principal Matt Cotter, Elmwood Assistant Principal Michelle Tynan and Marathon Principal Lauren Dubeau, to talk about the role of the paraprofessionals (A) who work in general education.

The superintendent said the five individuals whose positions are being cut would be welcome in new roles within the district such as teaching or as a paraprofessional B (working with special education students).

Carol Cavanaugh said there is a lot of turnover in the ranks of paraprofessionals, so there would be a place for them to move.

Bishop said the high school would make up for the loss of those positions by administrators having more of a presence in the cafeteria and teachers providing supervision in the library or study hall. Building aides and substitutes also could help, he said.

Positions still in budget discussed

Tynan spoke about the duties of the assistant principal in response to questions last month as to why a second assistant principal for Elmwood School is included in the FY 26 budget.

She discussed building trust with students, addressing behavioral issues and bus reports, helping with operations at the school, working with/evaluating teachers and more.

Tynan also noted the position is more “proactive” than in the past when assistant principals mainly handled discipline issues.

Cotter said having two assistant principals at Hopkins has been “invaluable” at a school with 700-plus students. “They can literally do it all,” he said, having once been an assistant principal himself.

“We’re trying to reach every area — academically, socially, emotionally, how [students] resolve conflicts, proactively supporting kids,” he added.

Other personnel requests remaining in the FY 26 budget include a French teacher, driven by student enrollment, and the reading tutor, resulting from student needs.

The superintendent said these are “student-facing” positions in “areas of teaching and learning that are specific and necessary.”

Regarding the capital budget, Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Susan Rothermich noted the district had intended to swap out a $200,000 request to replace entry doors at the middle school with that amount for instructional equipment textbook licenses.

However, she learned that both items are on the Town Meeting warrant and will be going back in front of the Capital Improvement Committee.