Reduction of supply and textbook lines
Reduction to our technology lines
Elimination of an administrative assistant and wellness teacher
Elimination of five teacher leadership positions
Elimination of late buses
The athletic fee will increase to $200 per student per sport. This covers the cost of our JV sports program, so there will be no cut to JV sports at this time.
Students who qualify for reduced lunch will have a reduced athletic fee of $100 per sport
Students who qualify for free lunch will have a reduced athletic fee of $50 per sport.
There will be a family cap of $1200, so the most any single family (siblings living in the same household) will be required to pay during the course of one school year is $1200.
Students taking Advanced Placement courses will pay the cost of their AP exams. AP exams cost $99 each, and students are required to take the exam if they take the course. Students who qualify for free or reduced lunch will qualify for a waiver and the school will cover the cost of their exams.
Courtesy of Hampshire Regional High School via ParentSquare
KEEP IN MIND:
If these programs and staff are not cut this year, they will be cut next year if we allow drastic cutting to continue. We have already lost 6.5 teaching positions in the past 3 years.
Below are the reductions from the FY2027 Alternative Budget Scenario based off of town assessments increasing by no more than 2.9%. (So, this is a drawn-up scenario of what would happen if our budget raises only 2.9%.). These cuts will give you an idea of what might get cut in the future if we allow these reductions to continue.
STAFFING REDUCTIONS:
7th graders and many high schoolers will have 2 study halls
Eliminates most high school music electives
Need to expand the PE waiver to more students
Students unable to take extra PE electives beyond their graduation requirements
Reduce health class offerings in at least one grade
Eliminate some PE electives while increasing class sizes in PE and health
Eliminate personal finance as a graduation requirement- could still offer it, but it would not be accessible to all high school students
Eliminate Broadcast Journalism course and the Raider Report
Eliminate new English foundations or an AP English course depending on enrollment
Eliminate most, if not all, tier 2 interventions (Academic Skills and Strategies and ELA Plus)
Class sizes in core academic departments shift from approximately 17.5 to 25 students
Eliminate electives such as AP Economics, Practical Law, Intro to Economics, Human Oppression, AP Seminar, AP Research
No world language in 7th grade
Eliminate honors sections of Spanish
Increase caseloads for school adjustment counselors and shift our current model
NON-STAFF CUTS:
Eliminate late buses- approximately $30,000
Late buses currently run three days a week (M, W, Th) and drop students off at the district elementary schools around 4:45 pm. Accessed primarily by students in grades 7-9 and allows us to provide equitable after school access to all students.
Reduce the virtual course line from $20,000 to $5,000
Students would not be able to take “extra” courses, such as online AP courses, unless there is a schedule conflict or other reason that they need to access an online course.
Reduce department supply lines by $3,400 total
Eliminate JV sports- $45,000
Eliminate summer credit recovery- $7,000
STUDENT FEES:
No longer fund AP exams for students- approximately $23,000
Students will be required to pay for their own AP exams ($99 each, $149 for some specialized courses).
The School Committee decided in 2019 that the school should fund AP exams for the purposes of equity and access.
Increase school choice bus fee- approximately $5,500
Increase laptop insurance fee- approximately $18,000
OUR RECENT BUDGET CUTTING HISTORY: budget reductions in 2024, 2025, & 2026:
Reduced individual budget lines: professional development, institute dues, office supplies, department supply lines, textbooks and curriculum materials, virtual programming, ect.
2.0 Staff reductions in FY24: Math Teacher, Interventionist
2.0 Staff reductions in FY25: Wellness Teacher, Interventionist
2.5 Staff reductions in FY26: Librarian, Art teacher, .5 Business Teacher
CURRENT APPROVED BUDGET: 6.75% INCREASE
We need 9.62% percent raise to maintain LEVEL SERVICES (the same as this year).