Hingham School Committee holds FY26 public hearing, advances $70.38 million budget amid proposed fee increases and staff reductions

The Hingham School Committee on Feb. 10 held a public hearing on the proposed fiscal 2026 operating budget, heard an enrollment study from NESDEC and voted to adopt a $70,383,752 FY26 budget while leaving specific staffing layoff votes for a later date.

Superintendent Katie Roberts presented the budget framework, saying the district's "primary budget assumption ... was to aspire to approach level services to the extent possible within the constraints of the MOU, and when possible, to prioritize student facing positions." The presentation tied spending priorities to the district's portrait-of-a-learner work, literacy adoption and MTSS (multi-tiered systems of support) investments.

The nut graf: the administration, constrained by a March 2023 memorandum of understanding with the town of Hingham that limits overall budget growth to 3.5%, proposed a budget that relies heavily on personnel spending, proposed new fees to raise revenue and identified targeted reductions and efficiencies across elementary, middle and high schools to close the district's projected gap.

Most important facts first: The committee voted to adopt the FY26 budget in the amount of $70,383,752. The administration framed the budget around the MOU cap and a carve-out for special education costs; Business Director Ayesha Oppong said that under the MOU certain special-education line items (out-of-district tuition, specialized services and transportation) are treated under a 2% threshold rather than the 3.5% overall cap.

Budget drivers and assumptions The administration said more than 80 percent of the district budget is personnel costs and that negotiated salary settlements (Unit A increases, steps, lanes and longevity) are a primary driver. Other upward pressures cited included higher fuel and utility costs (Hingham Municipal Light Plant rate changes were noted), increased substitute needs tied to expanded parental leave, and continuing demand for specialized social-emotional and speech/language services.

Special education and the MOU Ayesha Oppong explained the MOU accounting for special-education costs and grant offsets: "for those specific line items the threshold is a 2% threshold rather than a 3.5% threshold," she said, adding the town and school sides use an agreed baseline and apply a growth rate to determine the town's share.

Proposed fees and revenue measures Facing limited discretionary levers, the administration proposed several fee adjustments designed to raise revenue while preserving student-facing positions: - A new secondary transportation fee for grades 7—2: $250 per student with a family cap of $500 (fee relief available for eligible families). - High school parking: $250 for the closed lot and $125 for the far lot. - Athletics: raise the single-sport fee (presented as $450 for one sport), add $200 for a second sport, no charge for a third sport; family cap increasing from $1,100 to $1,400. Hockey would carry a $300 differential; the hockey family cap would rise to $1,700. - Full-day kindergarten fee: the administration proposed maintaining the current full-day kindergarten fee (reported in presentation materials as "29.5"). - Facility rental fees: a 3% increase was proposed to reflect custodial and related costs. The administration said fee waivers or relief would remain available for families demonstrating need.

Proposed staffing changes and efficiencies Roberts and the leadership team described an approach that prioritized filling positions tied to student-facing services where possible and used retirements and leaves to realize some efficiencies. The administration presented reductions and savings by level: - Elementary: net reduction of 5.2 FTEs, estimated savings of about $293,000; the proposal would reduce interventionists districtwide from 16 to 12 (dropping from four interventionists per elementary building to three) while keeping two licensed reading specialists and one math specialist per building. - Middle school: a package of retirements, an unfilled social-studies position and a proposed 0.4 FTE restructure in grade-6 exploratory programming, producing estimated savings of about $307,000. - High school: larger dollar reductions tied to enrollment trends, totaling roughly 5 FTEs and about $528,000 in savings; among the proposed changes was not replacing certain retirees and leaving some long-term leaves unfilled. The administration also proposed eliminating the district's secondary special-education administrator position and making some central-office reductions. Committee discussion referenced a districtwide reduction in staff "by 15 people" as a cumulative figure discussed in the meeting.

Enrollment study: NESDEC findings The committee received a new enrollment projection from NESDEC. The demographer told the committee the report should be read as a short-term (three-year) planning tool with a 10-year outlook for longer-term decisions. Key points presented: - Total enrollment is projected to remain roughly stable around the mid-3,000s over the next decade, after a pandemic-era dip. - Elementary (PreK-K—): projected increase of about 35 students over three years and about 92 over ten years. - Middle school (6—): small projected decline over three years (about 6 students) with a longer-term rebound (about +63 over ten years). - High school (9—2): projected decrease of roughly 95 students over three years and about 168 over ten years. The demographer cautioned that local migrations, private-school enrollments and the opening of the new Foster elementary building could change near-term outcomes and said NESDEC will update projections in the spring after final kindergarten and grade-1 registration numbers are available.

Public comment and committee response Only one public commenter spoke during the hearing: Jacqueline Beauprey, president of the Hingham Education Association, described the budget as "a tough budget for everyone, parents, students, and staff" and urged continued advocacy for stronger state funding and circuit-breaker support for special education.

Committee action and next steps The committee voted to open the public hearing, heard presentation and public comment, and then voted to close the public hearing and to adopt the FY26 budget in the amount of $70,383,752. Committee members said they would return with updated enrollment counts and additional detail on staffing before making any formal layoff notices; under the current collective-bargaining timetable the committee indicated it will notify affected staff by the contract deadline (discussed as mid-April in the meeting).

Why this matters The budget preserves district priorities the administration tied to the portrait-of-a-learner, literacy and MTSS work but relies on fee increases and targeted staff reductions to meet the town's MOU constraints. The special-education carve-out, the growth in out-of-district tuition and the uncertainty of federal and state grant streams (Title I/II/IDEA) were repeatedly cited as pressure points that could change the budget picture this spring.

Looking ahead The administration will return Feb. 24 with updated kindergarten registration counts and a shorter enrollment update; the committee said it expects to revisit staffing decisions with that newer data and to act on any required layoff notices before the mid-April contractual deadline.