HATFIELD — Spanish instruction at the Hatfield Elementary School, more performing arts such as chorus at Smith Academy and restoring some middle school sports are being contemplated as ways to keep and attract students to the town’s public schools.

The additional offerings being proposed come in response to a drop in the town’s school-age population — there are 218 students at the elementary school and 139 at Smith Academy — and school choice trends. Districtwide, there has been a 15% drop in school choice students, from 117 to 100, between 2022 and 2023. That drop, from 141 school choice students three years ago, reduces school choice funds available in next year’s budget.

But this vision for sustaining local education could require a significant investment next fiscal year of $731,800, or $203,200 more than a “level services” budget needed to maintain current offerings. Such an investment would bring the town’s funding commitment for schools from $5.24 million this year to $5.97 million next year, and boost total spending from $6.63 million to $7.31 million.

On Tuesday, School Committee Chairwoman Christy Boudreau and Superintendent Michael Wood presented the funding request ironed out by the School Finance Subcommittee to a joint meeting of the Select Board and Finance Committee.

“We’re very aware what we’re asking for comes at a time of crossroads, but we have a case we need to bring forward to you because it’s the right thing to do for our schools, and for our town as a whole,” Boudreau said.

Boudreau said the schools are, at minimum, asking for level services to maintain all teachers and classroom sections at both schools. The preschool program, which brings in revenue, would continue to be capped at 30 students.

“We believe it’s really key to our future that we have relatively small class sizes, that’s what we’re known for, it’s a big benefit and I think we hear our residents expect that as well,” Boudreau said.

The basic budget would also maintain electives, sports programs and rigorous professional development.

Boudreau said there are other reasons to ask for more town support. State statistics show that Hatfield has been underfunding its schools, and was 374th in per pupil spending out of 398 districts, at $15,225 per student, in fiscal 2021 — when the average school district was spending $19,062. The level services budget would bring spending to $18,400 per pupil, but would still be less than where Frontier Regional School was three years ago, at $18,889 per pupil, she said.

School growth plan

Meanwhile, the schools have also crafted a three-year strategic plan to grow the number of students and teachers in the district, doing personal outreach to each departing Smith Academy family, completing an inventory of offerings and what could set Hatfield apart, and identify where there are gaps.

One idea for making Hatfield a destination would be a focus on computer science and an investment in a teacher for coding classes, and then marketing that investment.

In minding the gaps, Boudreau said, it is important to both bring in more school choice students and to keep local residents. Adding foreign language into the elementary school curriculum would be the biggest bang for the buck.

“We would like to add a Spanish teacher to the elementary school,” Boudreau said.

Surveys show that half of the seventh graders the school is losing is related to performing arts instruction, so having a chorus program and theater and TV classes would help stem the tide. Half of ninth graders who leave, though, do so because they are heading to Smith Vocational and Agricultural School.

Other ideas include having an on-staff psychologist for the elementary school and expanding electives.

Boudreau said that all of these investments would pay off if the schools could get three school choice students per grade level, or adding 20 students per school.

Work that has gone into that recruitment has included recent outreach to students and families who have attended the Paolo Freire charter school in Chicopee, which is closing at the end of the school year.

“We’re looking at all avenues to bring in new students,” Boudreau said.

Wood said school choice families and staff who live out of town are hosting lawn signs promoting the Hatfield schools, an idea to increase social media presence is underway and radio advertising related to school choice was done in the fall.

“We’re trying to be as aggressive as we can to find ways to get the message out that we have space available and we’re able to keep the character of Hatfield in terms of the small class sizes and small community that everybody values, and why they choose to come here,” Wood said.

Finance Committee Chairman Darryl Williams said a plan might be to bring two budgets to Town Meeting, one that has spending across all departments to keep existing services, and one contingent on a general Proposition 2½ tax-cap override.

Boudreau said the risk to Hatfield of closure of schools or merger with another district is a reduction in student achievement, town identity and property values.

“We built a plan that looks at a long-term success plan, because we know if we don’t invest in our school and see some of these trends continue, there’s some long-term impacts to towns,” Boudreau said.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.]]>