Hatfield School Committee Approves 9.51 Percent Budget Increase for FY23

HATFIELD -- April 25, 2022, Hatfield School Committee unanimously approved a 9.51 percent budget increase for fiscal year 2023, sending the spending plan to Town Meeting after the Finance Committee and Select Board both signed off. The four members present voted 4-0 to adopt the budget as presented, with a subcommittee member explaining that the $445,000 overall increase is driven by contractual cost-of-living adjustments totaling $146,300, roughly $25,000 in administration transition costs, and new in-district special education and social-emotional learning positions that together save the town an estimated $325,000 compared with out-of-district placements. The committee noted that Hatfield's per-pupil spending ranks in the bottom five percent of Massachusetts and that matching comparable regional districts would cost an additional $2.5 million annually. The committee also unanimously approved the 2022-23 school calendar with a September curriculum half-day added for Hatfield Elementary staff to meet the contractual requirement of five such days, and accepted an American Legion donation of a 25-foot solar-lit aluminum flagpole to be installed at Smith Academy's back parking lot.