March 27, 2021 by Carol Britton Meyer
There's unanimous support among the School and Advisory committees and the Selectmen for the proposed fiscal 2022 $61.8 million budget recommended by the Hingham Public Schools administration, including 32 new positions that would address COVID-19 impacts on students during the past year and moving forward.
Following unanimous support from both the Advisory Committee education subcommittee earlier this week and the Selectmen last Tuesday, the full AdCom also voted in favor of the proposed budget last night.
Of the total school budget recommendation, $60.4 million would be funded by the taxpayers and $1.4 million by federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief stimulus money, which is incremental.
Both AdCom and the Selectmen unanimously support an overall fiscal 2022 $132 million town budget -- including the schools, municipal departments, capital outlay, and shared expenses.
Voters at the May 8 Town Meeting will have the final say on the municipal and school budgets. The warrant, which will be mailed to every Hingham household, will include AdCom's budget recommendations.
"We have a great group of people this year who did a tremendous amount of work, meeting twice a week for the last couple of months [to review the municipal and school budget recommendations in addition to other business]," AdCom Chair Robert Curley told the Hingham Anchor.
"The 15 knowledgeable members of AdCom looked at everything, considering the big picture and what was in the best interests of the town to provide the resources needed to [offer] the services our citizens deserve. Their vote reflects this," he said.
Four additional new positions are included on the municipal side -- an assistant town administrator for finance, a heavy equipment operator for the landfill/recycling area, a mental health clinician to provide support to the Hingham Police Department in responding to calls, and a senior planner for the community planning department.
This overall proposed budget would be funded in part using $5 million in one-time money -- $2.4 million from the town's rainy-day fund and $2.6 million in federal stimulus money -- a combination of American Rescue Plan government funding and education relief money.
Selectmen Chair Mary Power explained at this week's board meeting that federal stimulus money is funding all of the potential 36 new positions, which will cover their costs for fiscal 2022.
However, how they will be funded beyond the coming year is a concern and will likely lead to an override vote in 2022, Power predicts.
She also noted that the education budget growth over the past 10 years "is not sustainable, even before the pandemic."
Looking ahead, the Advisory Committee and Selectmen will be working with the School Committee to craft a long-term strategic plan for the schools to help address budget and other issues and to create a path forward.