By Carol Britton Meyer

The proposed $17.9 million fiscal year 2025 Hull Public Schools budget represents a 3%, or $520,043, increase over the current year’s figure. Superintendent of Schools Judith Kuehn and School Business Administrator Diane Saniuk introduced the budget proposal at this week’s school committee meeting, along with priorities for the next fiscal year.

Salaries comprise 76.79% of the overall budget; special education (non-salary related), 7.95%; while transportation, non-salary maintenance costs, utilities, technology, and other expenses comprise the remainder of the budget.

Click here for the full FY25 school department budget proposal

The budget proposal includes a $31,477 increase in transportation costs (from $756,747 to $788,224), a $360,632 increase in special education expenses, and a reduction of $225,275 in maintenance costs due mostly to the closure of the Memorial School.

Other changes in the budget include reductions of four full-time and two part-time positions – a custodian, school secretary, long-term substitute, special education teacher, physical education teacher, and an elementary counselor. With the middle school’s closure, the principal’s position has been eliminated and replaced with an intermediate assistant principal at the Jacobs School.

Part of next year’s focus will be sharing district priorities as they align with the school district’s strategic plan; prioritizing student success by ensuring quality curriculum, instruction, and continuous review of student data to support the academic and social and emotional needs of all students; and continuing to prioritize full-day four-year-old programming to maximize early childhood experiences and intervention.

Expanding student opportunities

Other FY25 priorities include continuing to support and expand student opportunities beyond traditional offerings – including boat building, rowing, Nature’s Classroom, upper elementary grade foreign language (Spanish) instruction, elementary band, MassHire opportunities, and E-sports programs – and continued support for the school department’s “comprehensive, highly-effective, and robust student focused” in-house special education programs, according to the presentation.

“We also want to continue to share and celebrate the achievements of our students, educators, staff, and district with Hull stakeholders and beyond,” Kuehn said.

Other priorities include adopting and implementing a new Spanish curriculum for grades 5-12 and expanding Spanish instruction to grades 5 and 6; supporting the co-teaching model across the district, and providing ongoing professional development opportunities; increasing support for substitute teachers and staff employed after the start of the school year through revised on-boarding protocols; and continuing to invest in technology to support “a highly effective teaching and learning environment for all students.”

Upcoming school budget discussions include:

⦁ Monday, March 11: Regular school committee meeting

⦁ Monday, March 25: Joint meeting at town hall with advisory board

⦁ Monday, April 8: Public hearing on budget

⦁ Monday, April 22: Regular school committee meeting

⦁ Monday, May 6: Annual town meeting at Hull High School

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