During this year’s budget preparation cycle, the State has been in budget turmoil and therefore the Board of Education’s members have struggled to understand the funding levels which we can expect from the State next academic year. This has been impossible and therefore, the Board directed the Superintendent to keep the budget at a 0% increase despite the continuing increases in our contractual obligations and insurance costs as well as fuel/heating oil cost increases. These increases had to be coupled with the projected decreases in the levels of State funding to Hampton in all of the town’s grants. At the same time, the Board directed that the quality of our curriculum presentations to our students had to remain at their present levels by combining classes for Science and Social Studies while insisting on continued excellence in Language Arts and Math by focusing on the needs of each child’s learning needs. 

These directions from the Board of Education required a reduction in our budget of approximately $117,000 based solely on those projected increases. This reality has resulted in the elimination of one full teaching position and the reduction in a paraprofessional’s position, as well as the reduction in the art position by a 0.1FTE and the same reduction for the Library/Media Specialist. These reductions were coupled with smaller reductions in supplies and repairs. All of these reductions were required to build a budget with a 0% increase as requested even with a relatively stable student population – currently of 104 and projected to be 103 in 2018-2019.

This academic year, we have focused on the implementation of a fully unified English Language Arts curriculum in all grades 1-6. Unlike in the past, all students who attend HES are now held to the same standards of academic performance in reading and writing from year to year as they move through HES.

Dr. Frank Olah, Superintendent, Hampton Elementary School