Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District has been dealing with some recent budget cuts. The current budget proposal from the school board will cut about a million dollars in the 26’-27’ school year. The largest portion of the cuts will come from laying off staff members.
The budget cut discussions began during the 24’-25’ school year, when they realized that the projected school expenses for next year would far exceed the projected tax revenues.
At the March 19th school committee meeting, the superintendent and Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance presented a list of reductions. The district needs to cut about $1.6 million from the budget.
Superintendent Eric Tracy said that the current proposal has seven staff members, educators, or administrators who would be cut, which would save $400,000-$420,000. Although the specific positions that would be cut are undecided at this time, the budget proposes two cuts from the elementary schools, two from the middle school, and three from the high school.
Tracy stated, “[the budget] came out $3.6 million higher than the previous school year…we ended up cutting just a little over a million dollars out of that budget already, and the biggest piece of that equation is 7 staff members.”
Tracy also commented, “Last year’s budget was in a similar situation… we kind of knew, we just pushed it off until this year.”
Several people asked about financial aid, and Tracy said that the district was not eligible for a lot of state assistance as, “we’re considered wealthy communities by the state, we don’t qualify for a lot of state aid, as a Boston, a Beverly, or a Worcester school would.” This makes budget problems much more challenging to deal with for the two towns.
Ian Morris, a geometry and algebra teacher from the high school, reported how similar things are happening in many towns around Hamilton and Wenham. Morris said that during COVID, schools received extra money from the state, and after that, some of it was taken away, making budget cuts not an uncommon issue.
Morris said the district has “been very transparent about sharing updates. So anytime there’s a new update, they’ll send out a mass email and slideshows.”
When it comes to who will be cut, no names have been released. However, the teacher contract states, “a teacher with professional status shall not be laid off if there is a teacher without professional status whose position the teacher with professional status is qualified to fill.”
If a reduction involves the layoff of a teacher with professional status, there are several factors that will be considered, all of which are outlined in the teacher contract.
News of possible reductions in staff or other budgetary concerns is not well-known amongst high school students. Twenty-five students were asked whether they had heard of the budget cuts and understood what they meant. Only four students responded yes, and another four had heard about them but didn’t know the details. This suggests the majority of the students at HWRHS are unaware of the budget cuts.
Evelyn Geary, a freshman at Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School, who was aware of the cuts, said: “I think it would be scary [if my homeroom teacher got cut] because what if I get put into a new homeroom that I don’t like?”
Gabriella Jewitt, a senior at HWRHS, notes that her Math, Science, and History classes have larger-than-average class sizes, and that a smaller number of students would be beneficial. She worried that classes would get bigger if teachers were cut.
Jewitt was also concerned about students who may be struggling with Math or Science, saying, “A larger class size could make it harder to receive one-on-one help from teachers.”
When asked how the district determines staff reductions, Bryan Menegoni, the high school principal, emphasized the gravity of the process. “I mean, it’s really difficult, you’re dealing with somebody’s job and their career. And so, you’re looking at a lot of factors.”
Tracy talked about how the maximum amount that taxes can be raised each year is 2.5%. This means “the funds are limited. That’s what people have to understand, which is why you’ll see we’re in what’s called an override situation this year, which means that we need to request a special authorization [to raise taxes] above the 2.5%…if that doesn’t pass, then that’s more cuts,” said Tracy.
While the current proposal cuts seven full-time positions/equivalents (FTEs), if the override fails to pass, an additional 26.6 FTEs must be cut, according to the March 19th School Committee Meeting Agenda in Finance & Operations, Exhibit 2. This means that without the override, 33.6 FTEs across the district would be cut.
In addition to the FTE cuts, there may be a reduction in health insurance for teachers, an increase in the athletic user fee of 5%, and the elimination of late buses at the middle and high schools. The elimination of late buses would impact a lot of students, given that many rely on them as a way to get home from extracurricular activities.
If the number of teachers is reduced, the class sizes will rise, and the class offerings may decrease. A reduction in staff may also cause students to receive less attention from teachers, which may impact the students’ success in classes or on standardized tests. The School Committee also said that students’ futures may be impacted because there would be fewer experiences for the students before they graduate
Emily Reulet, the mother of a school choice student at HWRHS, said, “There were a few reasons we chose Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School, but it really came down to finding the right fit for our daughter…it was important to us that her high school still felt like a community where she would be known and supported. At the same time, we wanted a midsize school that could offer both strong academics and competitive athletics.”
There will be four votes required to approve the tax increases, two for Hamilton and two for Wenham. All four votes must pass. The first votes are at the Hamilton town meeting on April 11th at 9:00 AM in the high school auditorium and at the Wenham town meeting on April 9th at 6:00 PM at the Bennett Center at Gordon College. The second vote for each is at the election on Thursday, April 16th, from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM.
The School Committee has been working to find a solution that’s best for the community, but no final decision has been made due to the difficulty and impact of these decisions. In the upcoming school year, there will need to be some changes, but the goal is to limit the impact on the community and students as much as possible.
