Around 60 employee positions within the Hopkinton School District are in limbo today, after school board members decided not to vote to extend 2021 contracts to support staff.
Hopkinton School Board members made the decision Thursday night in a move that affects staff members including teacher aides and paraeducators, food service workers and office assistants, according to superintendent Steve Chamberlin.
School Board Chair Jim O’Brien said that the reason board members did not confirm contracts at Thursday’s meeting is because they are trying to reduce district expenditures by $500,000 in order to start the new fiscal year on July 1.
“The board felt that we didn’t feel comfortable extending all the contracts to all the 60 support staff last night without having all the information,” O’Brien said. “We want to have all the options available to us to see what reductions have the least impact on our students.”
On May 30, the district’s proposed $21.07 million budget for fiscal year 2021 was struck down by Hopkinton voters, who participated in a drive-in vote system. It was the second time the school budget was rejected this spring. On May 12, voters struck down the original $21.4 million spending plan brought forward by the budget committee.
The school district is currently operating under an emergency order issued by Gov. Chris Sununu in April to allow school districts to continue to operate without an approved budget as long as expenses do not exceed the budget of the previous year.
The school board has until June 30 to extend contracts to these 60 employees before they lose their jobs and their health insurance. Chamberlin said he sent a letter to the staff members Friday telling them that the school was unable to confirm their employment for next year.
“There is a sense of urgency for me to try and resolve as much as we can in June so staff members understand their financial situation as we move into the next fiscal year,” Chamberlin said. “We are hoping it is a short lived gap. Hopefully at the next board meeting we will be able to confirm their employment.”
Nancy Skarmeas, co-president of the educational support staff union, issued a statement Friday in which she said staff members were “surprised and disappointed” by the announcement.
“We ended the school year this week exhausted, but proud of what we had all accomplished together,” Skarmeas wrote. “The disrespect shown for support staff employees by the board’s actions Thursday night is unacceptable. Instead of looking back at work well done, support staff members now face possible loss of employment and health insurance in a very uncertain world.”
Scott Zipke, a math teacher at Hopkinton High School and co-president of the teachers union, said seeing his colleagues’ positions in danger is especially hard now, due to the difficult spring semester caused by COVID-19. The board already confirmed contracts for all Hopkinton teachers earlier this year.
“These are all people we work with and are friends with and we’ve seen do terrific work this spring during remote learning,” Zipke said. “Three weeks away from July 1, to lose your health insurance or employment, that’s terrifying.”
The Hopkinton School Board will hold a working session June 18 to discuss which cuts will be made.
“My hope as a board member is that we don’t see any reductions of our staffing,” O’Brien said. “But that’s not a promise any board member can make until we see how to meet this reduction.”