IMPACTS OF BUDGET CUTS: THE DEATH SPIRAL
Budget cuts such as these can lead to a "Death Spiral" for school funding. A Death Spiral is a self-perpetuating cycle where declining student enrollment leads to reduced funding from the state and from school choice students. In 2025, Hampshire had 126 school choice students, which bring us money to our district (so the less that choose to come here, the less funding we will receive). Cuts this year will lead to more cuts next year, meaning that whatever programs get spared this year will likely become a target in the next. Mohawk Regional faced similar budget cuts to ours, and now their school has far fewer educational opportunities.
In 2006, Mohawk had 706 students in grades 7-12. After facing budget cuts like ours, they now have 287.
Mohawk offered 7 AP classes last year; HRHS offered 18.
Mohawk School accountability (their MCAS overall rating) showed that they outperform 39% of schools; HRHS outperforms 79%
Mohawk had 65% of AP scores in the 3-5 range; HRHS has 82%
Mohawk had a Choice In/Out differential of +14 students. We have +126.