The Hopkinton School Board is cravenly attempting to use the pandemic to ram though a record-setting increase to the budget, and $30 million bond to boot. Both were rejected in last year’s annual meeting, which saw record attendance.
This year, with emergency orders in effect, there’s no meeting. Chris Sununu’s order allows schools to keep a flat budget with “reasonable” increases and to keep contracts in place, so that schools can defer voting until the usual democratic process can resume.
However, rather than defer this momentous vote until all can participate equally, the board is pushing forward with a complicated, weeklong process. This will involve multiple separate Zooms, emails and a “drive-up” vote. And the process has still not been finalized, despite the vote happening this Friday!
Seniors who are most impacted by the school’s tax burden are already being forced out of town. Many of them are not familiar with the technology. These voters have little chance of navigating this “emergency Zoom.” Meanwhile, the young, affluent, tech-savvy parents of school-age children are completely unfazed.
The Hopkinton School Board has a motto: “Above all, care.” But we know what their real motto is: “Above all, money.”
DENIS GODDARD
Hopkinton