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Date: 4/5/2022
HADLEY – The Hadley School Committee hosted a preliminary budget presentation during its meeting on March 28 where they unanimously agreed to recommend to the Finance Committee an increase of local contribution from $7.37 million to $7.59 million in fiscal year 2023 (FY23).
The presentation also included a discussion on the FY23 budget adjustments and revealed program of studies updates, one of which will allow students attending Hopkins Academy to take a class focused on video games for the first time in school history.
The FY23 budget had a minimal increase from FY22 but allotted a 25 percent increase for heating of buildings which raised concerns as oil prices continue to surge.
“When’s the latest that we can lock in on the oil for heating of the building?” asked School Committee member Ethan Percy. “I know you said we’ve assumed 25 percent; it’s currently looking at 78 percent so if it stays up how do we pay for that?”
Hadley Superintendent Anne McKenzie joked that she was practicing good fiscal management by hoping it doesn’t, but quickly became serious.
“I’m not presuming to have a crystal ball,” McKenzie said. “The majority of districts have not locked in at this point, they’re also assuming some changes on the horizon. One would hope that the war in Ukraine is resolved, that sanctions may be lifted in Iran, that OPEC [Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries] will start producing more. I don’t know that we’re ever required to lock in, we’re always watching but we’re looking at these larger global factors and believing that it is likely to decline closer to summer.”
McKenzie said that their school choice funds continue to be healthy and that they set aside COVID-19 Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds to mitigate the uncertain cost increase for oil.
School Committee Chair Humera Fasihudden suggested looking into other, renewable options like solar panels for heating and moving away from oil. McKenzie recommended that the committee ask that question next month when Colliers, the company that did the facilities audit, present all their recommendations in April.
Despite having just 281 students and 26 faculty members according the school’s website, Hopkins tries to implement a wide variety of course options and updates classes every year. The limited faculty means that courses are regularly added and removed temporarily, but this is designed to give students diverse options.
“We are offering a class in 2022-23: High School Computer Science: Strategic Games and Simulation Learning, we’re very excited about that,” McKenzie said. “When it says Business Law is not being offered, it’s just for that year. This is what Hopkins has tried to do given the fact that we have tiny enrollment, and we also want to have really robust course offerings. We offer some pretty incredible courses for such a small place, so they’ve started providing students this schedule. It’s similar to what you might see in a college course catalog, ‘This is when you can expect this course to be offered so please try to plan accordingly.’”
Fasihudden was excited to see a course on gaming, saying that the gaming field has exploded especially during the pandemic. She noted e-sports programs and scholarship opportunities are becoming more commonplace for colleges.
The committee discussed pathways for students to secure college and professional credit without losing students to Smith Vocational in Northampton. McKenzie said there’s still nothing formally set up for Hopkins, but there are options for students that might be interested.
“I would like the public to know that any time a student is interested in any sort of college experience, they should definitely speak with the guidance counselor or principal because our goal is to personalize experience as much as possible,” McKenzie said. “You don’t see anything formal in the program of studies for next year. Right now, we’re just not there yet but we’re still working in that direction and the first one you see will probably have to do with computer science.”