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Hartford board hires Bray Architects, approves budget publication and urges voter turnout for Nov. 5 referendum
Summary
The board approved a three-phase proposal from Bray Architects to support potential referendum outreach and, if approved by voters, to lead engineering/design work; the board also approved publishing the 2024–25 budget notice and publicized early-voting dates ahead of the Nov. 5 ballot.
The Hartford UHS School Board voted to hire Bray Architects to provide outreach, communications and design support tied to the district's potential referendum. The three-phase proposal includes community meetings and marketing support before Election Day and a 5.5% fee for design and engineering if a referendum is approved.
Superintendent Walters told the board the firm would help ensure taxpayers can review options and that Bray—s work would include community meetings and coordinated communications with district staff. "The proposal attached includes those three phases of regular meetings and communication, marketing support and working with Katrina," Walters said.
The board also approved the publication of the district's 2024–25 budget notice (required format) so the annual meeting and budget hearing can be publicized. Rob from the business office noted the center column uses unaudited 23-24 figures because the final audit arrives in November; the district expects DPI state-aid certification by mid-October and final student-enrollment counts to be posted imminently. As presented, the district's projected shortfall stood at roughly $200,000 pending those final figures.
Board members urged broad voter participation and pointed to the district web page containing referendum materials and outreach resources. Early in-person voting was listed by the board as Oct. 21 through Nov. 1; Election Day is Nov. 5.
Why it matters: approval of Bray Architects commits district funds for pre-referendum outreach and would bind the district to a fee structure if voters approve the referendum; publishing the budget notice is a statutory step that begins the public budget-hearing cycle.
Next steps: Bray will begin outreach support as directed; the district will post final budget figures and present the full budget for approval at the annual meeting and the following regular board meeting.
