Schools hunt for savings
From wind power to ads considered
HOPKINTON - With painful budget days ahead, including 16 job cuts, school officials are exploring creative ways to raise and save money.
Harnessing wind power. Naming rights for athletic facilities. Offering outdoor advertising space at the Boston Marathon.
And, officials said, seeking the help of corporate neighbors, such as the Hopkinton-based
The gift arrives not a moment too soon for the district administrators faced with making more than $800,000 in cuts for next fiscal year, following a March decision by selectmen not to put a property-tax increase before voters. A $70,000 line item for purchasing computers that the schools now lease has already been axed.
Such cuts jeopardized the district's technology plan, which calls not only for capable computers to keep students competitive, but also public access to the educational system, according to the school district's new director of technology, Kathy Dooley.
She negotiated the computer donation with EMC.
"It takes a village," Dooley said. "Even if we had bought them refurbished, 100 laptops would be between $400 and $500 each."
Dooley said the district's technology plan calls for leasing computers for the high school that are then purchased after three years and passed down to elementary students. The younger students don't have computers or are using some that are eight to 10 years old, she said.
So far, 76 Dell laptops from EMC have been passed out to elementary faculty for "teacher stations" that staff use for electronic grading and other tasks. "I'll be applying for another 24 in June," Dooley said. "This is just awesome. And we thank EMC for their support and partnership.'
Spokesman Patrick Cooley said EMC is dedicated to improving K-12 math, science, and technology education. "We have supported a variety of education programs in Hopkinton over the years and are pleased that our laptops will benefit their educational initiatives," he said.
At the same time, School Committee chairman Rebecca Robak has spearheaded a plan to place a wind turbine behind the high school, near the football field, to turn air power into renewable energy, a good way, she believes, to think "green" and reduce skyrocketing energy bills.
Robak floated the idea before a volunteer finance committee looking to cut costs and raise revenues in Hopkinton. She submitted the proposal to the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative's Renewable Energy Trust and is waiting to hear back.
If the nonprofit group finds that Hopkinton is serious about building a turbine and the site is eligible, the town could receive an initial $40,000 grant to explore it, and potentially as much as $400,000 toward design and construction costs.
Selectmen voted to support the application, she said. "So far, I've only gotten positive feedback. It would be a nice way to save some money."
Teachers are also looking to tie the process into an ecology class, Robak said. Next? Maybe solar panels.
School officials are also committed to finding new sources of revenue, potentially through corporate sponsorships, but the process is in the exploratory stage and a draft policy on acceptable advertising is being developed.
School Committee member David Stoldt presented a report to his board in February that laid out some of the pluses and minuses of such advertising, including the issue of whether taxpayer-funded locations should promote a certain company or product.
Michele Morgan Bolton can be e-mailed at mmbolton1@verizon.net.
