The Hampton Elementary School has completed its budget development for the upcoming school year.  Any school budget reflects both the needs and successes of an institution while balancing the economic capacity of a community.  The budget for the coming year contains modest but essential investments proposed for the 2025-26 school year. The $2,269,429 budget represents a 4.12% increase—or $89,829—from our current spending, a reasonable adjustment that reflects both fiscal responsibility and our commitment to educational excellence. Further, in a year of significantly higher increases throughout the state than those in the past, the fiscal year 25-2026 HES budget is over a percent lower than the state average.

This increase is not driven by excessive spending or unnecessary purchases. Instead, it addresses unavoidable pressures that affect every household and business in our community. Transportation costs continue to rise as fuel prices and vehicle maintenance expenses climb. Our current transportation provider operated this past year at a significant loss, further compounding the increased costs as we enter a new busing contract.  Special education services, mandated by federal and state law, require specialized staff and resources that we cannot compromise on without failing our most vulnerable students.

The budget’s most significant enhancements focus squarely on student support. Expanding our intervention teacher from three to five days per week will provide crucial academic assistance to struggling learners—an investment that can prevent small learning gaps from becoming insurmountable obstacles. Similarly, adding half a day to our school counselor’s schedule recognizes the growing mental health needs of our elementary students, particularly as they navigate post-pandemic challenges.

These staffing adjustments demonstrate our school’s commitment to supporting the whole child, not just test scores. Early intervention and counseling services are proven investments that save money and heartache down the road by preventing more serious academic and behavioral problems.  As a small learning community, Hampton Elementary School is uniquely poised to create nurturing environments where children are able to thrive.

Staff salaries and benefits reflect further efforts at cost containment.  Annual cost of living increases for staff have been set at 2.5%.  We are additionally asking our noncertified employees to contribute to their insurance plans and their health savings accounts.   We have additionally aligned the number of paraeducator work days to those of our teachers, a departure from past practices that has led to increased savings.

Schools are the cultural and community center of any town.  This is particularly true in Hampton, where HES engages a wide range of students and families. The budget that we have created is fiscally responsible while simultaneously providing to meet the needs of its learners. We look forward to the support of the community in passing this budget.

Andrew Skarzynski, Superintendent