Letter to the Editor: Schools Need Plan Before Making Any Cuts

A Buker Elementary School parents writes with her opinion about the fiscal 2014 school budget.

To the Editor: I am just hearing, as many others are, that there is a request from the two towns for the School Committee and (Superintendent) Dr. (Michael) Harvey to cut $500,00 from the school's budget, due early February. It sounds like cuts are going to be made at the high school level and could result, for one, in larger class sizes as a result of scheduling changes. I know we are proud of our current high school's ranking but we need to remember that our ranking is an aggregate achievement and not a single year's efforts. Our district attained that ranking by having a strategy, forethought, commitment, an accurate and sound budget and consistency in leadership that was in line with the community's standard for quality education. I …

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Patch Facts

Five Things to Know on Jan. 3: Pan-Mass Challenge Registration Opens

An essential get-me-going daily morning column from Hamilton-Wenham Patch.

Today is Thursday, Jan. 3. Here are five things you need to know in Hamilton and Wenham: 1. Freezing: Thursday morning is expected to be the coldest start to the day in a year, with temperatures not forecasted to even get all that high during the day. The sky will be sunny, the high temperature will be in the mid-20s and the wind chill will be as low as -5 degrees. 2. Sky Watch: The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks in the early morning hours of Jan. 4. Your next chance to spot a meteor is to look north (and a little east) and find the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) then look farther north (which would be roughly "up" if the Big Dipper were holding liquid). The constellation Draco ("Dragon") has a "head" of four bright stars that look a little bit …

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Patch Facts

Five Things to Know on Dec. 20: School Budget Review Continues

An essential get-me-going daily morning column from Hamilton-Wenham Patch.

Today is Thursday, Dec. 20. Here are five things you need to know in Hamilton and Wenham: 1. Brightness returns: The forecast on Thursday is calling for a sunny day with a high temperature of about 40 degrees. 2. Museum coupon: Wenham Museum offered up some great coupons to its e-mail subscribers this holiday season and those coupons expire on Thursday. The coupons offered $10 off a $50 purchase, $20 off a $100 purchase and $40 off a $200 purchase in the museum store. 3. Toy Drive: State Senator Bruce Tarr’s 16th annual North Shore Holiday Toy Drive wraps up on Thursday. Tarr, who represents Hamilton and Wenham, is collecting toys at Wenham Museum in the two towns, plus nearby in Beverly at Blueberry Hill Health Care and Marblehead Bank, …

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New Bus Contract Could Be Source of School Budget Savings

The bus contract for the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District ends this year, and a new contract could possible save money in the dfiscal 2014 budget.

The $700,000 that the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District spends on buses each year may be an area of possible savings in the fiscal 2014 budget, several School Committee members said on Thursday. The School Committee has been reviewing an initial version of a $29.1 million fiscal 2014 budget based on a level services that has spending up by $247,800, but a forecasted drop in revenue by $2.08 million could mean that a level service budget could require a 10 percent increase in contribution from the towns. The district did receive $251,000 this year in state transportation funding because it is a regional school district. The budget is planned to include the same state funding in fiscal 2014. Next year's budget calls for spending $715,…

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Patch Facts

Five Things You Need to Know Today: June 20

An essential get-me-going daily morning column from Hamilton-Wenham Patch.

Today is Monday, June 20. Here are five things you need to know: 1. Weather: Monday is shaping up to be a great day weather-wise with temperatures reaching into the upper 70s with sun. 2. Bruins Parade: Wow, what a show on Saturday in Boston as arguably the largest crowd yet for a professional sports championship parade in Boston was held to honor the Stanley Cup champions Boston Bruins. If you were there, share you photos with other Hamilton-Wenham Patch readers and send them to robertg@patch.com. 3. Sixth District: The future of the Sixth Congressional District – Hamilton and Wenham are both part of the district – will be on the docket on Monday night at a public hearing at City Hall in Lynn at 6 p.m. With the drop in Massachusetts’ …

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Selectmen Outline 'Giveback' Support in Position Paper

The Hamilton Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee outlined their support of a school budget that is $500,000 less than the School Committee's budget in a position paper released on Friday mrning.

The Hamilton Board of Selectmen outlined its support of a $500,000 “giveback” for the school budget in a position paper released Friday morning. The two page paper was finalized when the Selectmen met on Friday morning and comes in advance of Hamilton Town Meeting on Saturday at 9 a.m. at Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School. “This recommendation is based on several months of review of school finances that have shown significant budgeting errors, accumulation of funds that should have been spent for school programs, and audits of school spending,” the paper states. The paper (attached as a PDF to this article) outlines in a question and answer format its support of the giveback - a term that has been used to describe the amount of money …

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Michelle Bailey

3:17 pm on Friday, May 13, 2011

The School Committee’s FY 2012 Budget asks for no new contributions from the Towns, does not affect the tax rate, and maintains level services in the schools. Wenham voters have already approved this number. Read more at http://hwsos.org/wordpress/ Please go to town meeting to support the school committee budget.   more ›

Letter to the Editor: Support the School Committee’s Budget Because Anything Less Is Risky

Lynnette Fallon of Hamilton writes in a letter to the editor that voters should support the 2012 school budget put forth by the School Committee.

To the Editor: The voters of Hamilton and Wenham elect the nine members of the HWRSD School Committee to undertake a critical annual task: develop a budget for the next fiscal year that balances the quality and cost of our public education. For the School Committee’s budget to be adopted, it must be supported by a majority of voters at both Town Meetings. This year, the School Committee’s budget essentially provides level services for level funding from the towns -- that is, with no increase to the towns. This unusual situation exists because the district is benefiting from federal stimulus money and unspent funds from prior years. We should be happy that this was possible this year—it is a situation that is unlikely to repeat itself. With…

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