Dr. David Hopson
Huntington’s passage of the 2014-2015 school year budget last week makes starting school this week a much more pleasant experience, as it alleviates staff concerns over potential reductions and allows administrators to focus on education — and begin to plan next year’s budget. Some may argue that the votes of Russell, Montgomery, and Huntington were moot because the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) had already set the 1/12th budget at the amount requested for this year but the reality is that, with final approval of the fifth town, the school committee retains control of the budget rather than having to get approval for line item changes from the state. Taking into consideration some of the comments from those most opposed to this year’s Gateway budget, the district will begin the process earlier and provide additional opportunities for dialogue while continuing to share information with all constituents. I hope that more people will take part in the budget development and approval process this coming year, as there will be new complications with Worthington’s potential withdrawal from the district.
Our staff and students are returning to buildings and grounds that literally sparkle due to the diligent efforts of our maintenance and custodial staff. Despite a short summer, these employees have done an outstanding job of deep cleaning, maintenance, minor repairs and upgrades to the buildings and grounds, evidence of their strong commitment and dedication to the district and our students. Our secretaries have also done extraordinary work ensuring that all of the systems that make the school day and year progress in an orderly fashion are up to date and running efficiently, and they will remain very busy as the school year begins. Our administrators have been diligently preparing for the start of the school year with course scheduling, hiring new staff, coordinating activities, and completing the many requirements placed upon schools by the state and federal governments. The technology department has also been very busy changing over management systems, complying with state and federal mandates, ensuring that all of the tech systems are working at top capacity and preparing for the onslaught of demands on our technology infrastructure that occur at the beginning of the year. And of course, our district finance staff has been closing out one fiscal year, working with the auditor, and preparing everything for the current fiscal year. In short, the many activities that occur ‘behind the scenes’ in order to allow students and staff to return and begin the school year (and continue throughout the school year) are in very capable hands and have been well executed.
This has also been a very busy legislative session and several new laws were passed that mandate even more reporting, follow-up on activities, and even potential new expenditures (so far without the additional funding required to implement) that will require even more work from those staff who continually work to fulfill all of the mandates while doing their best to keep these tedious tasks as far away from the classrooms as possible. Unfortunately, many of the mandates put into place over the past few years do impact teachers, students, and the educational process both directly and indirectly and the jury is still out on whether any of these will actually improve student learning. I am confident that our staff, whether working with students or supporting our students indirectly, are committed to the idea of helping students achieve and believe in the idea that education is one of the most important aspects of life. Let’s hope that the pendulum of support for public education once again swings towards the idea of being student-centered, supportive of the whole child, and respectful of those who dedicate their careers to working with students and away from the mechanical, rote, and standardized corporate theory of education as currently espoused by many across the country.
