Record — Page 0096
It pains me to write this letter. I consider myself to be an advocate for education. But I am having a
very hard time generating any enthusiasm for the school’s FY25 budget as presented at the budget
hearing.
As a Finance Committee member, I know the details of the requests submitted by each
Department. I also spend hours poring over the details of the School Budget to assure myself that
the budget has been carefully prepared. I have some serious concerns with the following requests
for FY25:
1. Transportation. I continue to oppose funding non-mandated busing. Eliminating those costs
would reduce Whitman’s costs by $181,780 and Hanson’s by $47,875, a total of $230,000. While
not part of the operating assessment, it is a savings that reduces the impact on the levy. Also, the
assertion that non-mandated busing addresses the issue of school children crossing busy state
highways flies in the face of reality. There are many Whitman Middle School children who cross
rte. 18 and rte. 27 on a daily basis as they live within 0.5 miles of the school and are not entitled to
a bus.
2. Declining enrollment and Class sizes – I took a looked at the class size projections for
FY25. What immediately leaps off the page Class Size Projections 24/25 is the following:
Hanson Middle School
Grade 6 101/6 = 16.8 average class size
Grade 8 110/6 = 18.3 average class size
Reducing the number of sections to 5 results in:
Grade 6 101/5 = 20.2 average class size
Grade 8 110/5 = 22 average class size
Compared to the projected class sizes in the comparable grades in the Whitman Middle School:
Grade 6 170/8 = 21.25
Grade 8 179/8 = 22.3
The Hanson Middle School average class sizes are still smaller. Using the $71,000 average
teacher salary, that’s another $142,000 in savings.
If these are added to the suggested budget cuts and use of E/D and CB discussed at the March
13, 2024, School Committee meeting of $910,500 it totals $1,282,500 in combined savings to the
towns of Hanson and Whitman.
Taking this approach will show a good faith effort to help bridge the FY25 budget deficits that both
Whitman and Hanson are grappling with. I continue to oppose a “School override” that has been
promoted by several Whitman officials and citizens. What concerns me is that failure to
significantly reduce the FY25 school budget before voting to certify the assessments to the two
Towns could result in the school department being excluded from future efforts by the Select
Board/Board of Selectmen and Finance Committees to use Free Cash, Stabilization Accounts, and
other revenue sources to balance the Towns’ FY25 budgets.
Respectfully,
Kathleen A. Ottina■