Candidates for the Hopkinton school board faced questions about the upcoming school district budget and a multimillion-dollar facilities project at a candidates forum Wednesday night at town hall.
Steve Lux and Norman Goupil are vying for a seat on the board to replace outgoing member David Luneau.
Both expressed general support for the $9.7 million facilities upgrade that will be first on the warrant at the school district’s annual meeting Saturday.
The district is currently on probation with the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, the accreditation body for New England’s public and independent schools, due to issues in the middle-high school science labs.
The plan would upgrade those facilities to meet NEASC requirements, as well as add class space to alleviate overcrowding at Harold Martin, the district’s lower elementary school, which has seen an uptick in enrollment in recent years.
“I support the bond because it’s a way for us to reinvest in our schools, but carefully,” he said.
“We need to continue to show NEASC that we are working toward these issues and we are going to invest the money needed to correct these problems,” Lux said.
If the project is approved at the school district’s annual meeting Saturday, it will add about $1.15 per $1,000 of assessed property value to the tax rate, or about $287 a year for a home worth $250,000.
Lux is a former selectman in Hopkinton who emphasized his family’s deep roots in the community when he spoke to the crowd of 100 or so voters Wednesday night. Goupil said he would bring his professional background in accounting and budget management to the board.