REMINDER – Preliminary 2012-13 School Budget

Click to view a pdf file of the Superinendent’s Preliminary 2012-13 School Budget Presentation.

Or on HCAM-TV you can watch a brief 7 minute summary of the budget presentation or watch the whole meeting. Follow this link:
hcam.tv/videos/superintendent-landman-presents-preliminary-budget

Please note that school budget discussions are NOT televised. So far no one has come to speak during the public comment portions of the school committee meetings to speak up about fees, class size or any other topic. As always you should feel free to contact the School Committee hpsschoolcommittee@hopkinton.k12.ma.us and Superintendent jlandman@hopkinton.k12.ma.us at any time with questions or concerns. You may also voice your opinion publicly at the School Budget Public Hearing coming up on January 26.

School Committee Meeting
Thursday, January 19 @ 7:00 PM
Middle School Library, 88 Hayden Rowe St
Regular Meeting/Working Session – FY13 Budget Topics:
Middle School, High School, Athletics, Town Meeting Articles, Athletic Fee, Parking Fee, F1 Visa Tuition, Walking Zone, 1:1 Laptop Initiative, Bus Parking Lot (The Budget Portion of the Meeting is Not Televised)

School Committee Public Hearing on School Choice and the 2012-13 School Budget
Thursday, January 26 @ 7:00pm (Not Televised)
Middle School Library, 88 Hayden Rowe St
Public Hearing – FY13 Budget and School Choice
ATTENTION! If you can only attend one school committee meeting a year, this is the most important one to attend. It is your chance to voice your opinion on the budget.

Budget Overview – 3.95% Increase from Last Year
Superintendent Landman presented his preliminary 2012-13 (FY13) school budget at the December 20 School Committee meeting. Some highlights are included below. Please note that nothing is final at this point, this is just the beginning of a process. The School Committee will provide feedback to the Superintendent who will then refine the budget before the School Committee votes on a budget to submit to the Town Manager by the February 1 deadline.

Thumbs Up:

• Maintains close to level services for 2012-13
• Continues to work toward Strategic Plan goals such as:
  • Aligning our math curriculum with Common Core standards
  • Intervention Pyramid for struggling students
  • 21st Century Learning (such as online classes at the HS)
  • Technology Infrastructure Updates, such as replacing teacher laptops that are more than 5 years old
  • Critical Language (Mandarin) at the HS
  • Exploration of how to add the study of world languages to grade 6 and below
• Create a school bus parking lot in town to save fuel, as well as save on excise tax paid to the other town where our buses currently park.

Thumbs Down:

• $707,268 Decrease in budget offsets from last year such as state circuit breaker special education funding and education job grants
• Increased class sizes in grades K, 1, 4, 6 and 8 (see chart below)
• More high school classes with over 25 students (17% this year vs 20% next year)
• A net cut of 2.6 Staff Members compared to last year (a net cut of 20.4 staff members since the 2006-07 school year)

Proposed Class Sizes:

Mixed Bag:

• Increase student bus fees from $210 to $250 per year
• Increase student athletic fee from $125 to $200 per sport
• Increase student parking fee from $210 to $250 per year
• Assess a daycare drop-off bus fee of $100 per student
• Creation of a “walking zone” and elimination of the bus for Middle School and High School students living close enough to walk to school.

Summary of the Preliminary 2012-13 Budget:
$32,957,722 This Year’s Approved Budget 2011-12
+$1,518,755 Fixed Cost Payroll Increases (contractual obligations)
+$62,401 Other Fixed Cost Increases
___________
$34,538,878 Level Services 2012-13 Budget
+$285,425 Strategic Initiatives
+$71,000 Extraordinary Maintenance
-$69,342 Cost Cutting Measures
-$208,368 New Revenue (Fees)
-$359,608 Net Staff Positions Cut
_________
$34,260,733 Total Preliminary 2012-13 Budget – 3.95% Increase from Last Year