January 10, 2024 By Carol Britton Meyer
The Fiscal 2025 Hingham Public Schools budget process has begun, with a presentation to the School Committee this week as the first of many more to come.
As part of the budget planning process, a $2.8 million deficit was identified, including $1.6 million in increased special education costs within the proposed $68 million budget.
An additional budget session has been added to the schedule on Thursday, Jan. 18, at 7 p.m. “We will continue budget discussions at our next regularly scheduled meeting as well on Jan. 22,” School Committee Chair Nes Correnti told the Hingham Anchor following the meeting.
The proposed budget presentation to the School Committee was the work of Supt. of Schools Margaret Adams, Director of Finance and Operations Aisha Oppong, Asst. Supt. of Schools Katie Roberts, and Interim Executive Director of Student Services Barbara Cataldo.
In accordance with the 2023 Memorandum of Understanding among the Select Board, Advisory Committee, and the School Committee following the passage of a $7.9 million override that supported the implementation of a level services budget for the 2023-2024 school year, the annual operating budget growth for the School Department is capped at 3.5 percent after FY24.
“It was understood that the financial challenges of increased costs — including personnel, special education, and energy — would result in a deficit in FY25-28,” according to Supt. of Schools Margaret Adams. “Based on this agreement, the town will allocate $68,003,625 of the FY25 budget to the schools, representing a 3.5 percent increase over FY24.”
The MOU with the town allows the schools to request increased funding for special education costs above a 2 percent threshold.
“Through the budget process, it is our recommendation to advocate for the 1.6 million increased special education costs from the town,” according to the presentation.
“The remaining 1.2 million dollars of the deficit is due to the district’s obligations to several budget drivers, including meeting the contractual agreements with our employees, [the rising costs associated with] utilities, and an increase in substitute costs,” Adams stated in a Jan. 8 letter to the Hingham school community. “The budget planning included opportunities to discuss our priorities and review current FY24 budget spending. We are now beginning to meet with the School Committee and the larger community to share details of the FY25 budget.”
Focus on supporting all HPS students
As part of the ongoing discussion, there’s a focus on supporting all HPS students “to ensure their academic, social-emotional learning, and behavioral health needs as we continue our recovery from the disrupted learning of the pandemic,” Adams explained.
Monday night’s presentation outlined the budget process, budget priorities, current budget drivers, financial and enrollment data, and budget considerations, as well as the overall FY25 budget.
Other budget drivers include increased student needs related to more delayed language or diagnosed language disorders than before the pandemic as well as social emotional learning, behavioral health, and developmental delays among some students.
In her letter to the Hingham community, Adams said she looks forward to presenting the budget plan to the School Committee (additional presentations), Advisory Committee, Select Board, and community members in the coming weeks.
“We will have thoughtful and sometimes challenging discussions about supporting the district’s goals to support all of our students,” she stated. “The past few years have been incredibly difficult for our students, families, teachers, and staff, but the community has shown [a] deep commitment to students and each other. We are confident that by continuing to work together, we can ensure a budget supporting our schools and students.”
In other business at the meeting
While well-received overall by HPS families, the pilot Spanish immersion program launched this year was tabled for the time being due to budget constraints.
The School Committee also voted in favor of naming the new elementary school that is replacing William Foster Elementary School the “Foster Elementary School” in response to overwhelming support for that choice. Voters at the Annual Town Meeting will have the final say