WITH SCHOOL BUDGETS MAKING UP SUCH A LARGE proportion of the Town of Hawley’s total annual expenditures, it has to be a matter of concern when they are voted down summarily at Town Meeting. Here, in five concise points, is Selectboard Chair Hussain Hamdan’s explanation of what happened and why:
- The two school budgets were turned down as a formality. In fact, this was done with the support of both the school district administration and the school committee.
- The reason is that the budgets were approved by school committee back in March, before anyone knew how much COVID-19 and the resultant loss of tax revenue was going to impact state aid. Once this was understood, it became abundantly clear that these budgets were not in keeping with the financial realities we would be facing.
