The Big Picture

On April 5th, Hamilton and Wenham residents will be asked to pay $142,000,000.00 to build a 122,000+ square foot, 745-student school.

This massive structure, the size of a big-box store, would have a population 2/3 bigger than our high school. Our real estate taxes in Hamilton and Wenham will increase by 12%. When polled in June, residents OVERWHELMINGLY rejected the plan. And the more they learned about the consolidated school, the LESS they liked it.

Save Small Schools in Hamilton-Wenham

Let's Save Our Small Schools

Research shows that the smaller the school, the better the education. Life in Hamilton and Wenham centers around our small neighborhood schools. Many generations have benefitted from an excellent Hamilton Wenham education. Let’s balance that excellence in education with sound fiscal policy. We believe maintaining our three small neighborhood schools is the key to maintaining all that we love about our two small towns.

Facing Fiscal Reality

1. Town Budgets Cut

The reality is that the HWRSD has gutted our town budgets, accounting for a full 60% of all expenditures. Wenham already has the North Shore’s HIGHEST property tax rate. Hamilton, the third highest. Our municipal budgets have been cut to the bone and we are borrowing from our reserves so as not to vote on both a consolidated school and a Prop 2½ override for teacher salaries at the same time this April 5th. And why? Simply stated by our Asst. Superintendent of Schools, “Because when a debt exclusion (the school vote) and a tax override (Prop 2½ to fund our town operating budgets and other school overages) are both voted on at Town Meeting, historically both fail.” So, we aren’t even being given a clear picture of the many tax overrides we will face between now and next year. These impacts have not been discussed in the public forum because they don’t want the school vote to fail.

2. Property Taxes Increase

According to our Finance Committees, the average HW homeowner will pay about an additional $30,000+ in real estate taxes over the life of the bond. And that’s not a one-and-done. We are borrowing from our reserves this year to avoid an operational override at the same time we are voting to pay for a massive, $142M, 120,000+ square foot, 745-student consolidated school. And we haven’t even gotten to the implications of the MBTA 3A law. 3A threatens to exhaust our town services: fire, police, water, and most likely require the addition of a sewer system, none of which we can afford. That 12% increase gets baked into our tax rate for the assumed 20-year term of the bond-loan.

3. More Spending

But wait, there’s more: it’s estimated that the Hamilton Wenham Regional School District (HWRSD) will need another $2M Prop 2½ tax override in 2026 to fund the newly signed teacher union contracts. Those contracts have already been signed. That money must be paid to fund our current teaching staff; without it HWRSD will have to fire 20 teachers. That tax override will be part of our tax rate permanently. And on top of that, Wenham is in the middle of contract negotiations with its employee union which will necessitate a Wenham town operational override in 2026. Hamilton is in similar shape, borrowing from reserves to balance the budget.

What We Need to Do

Let’s put the brakes on a consolidated school project which will most certainly bankrupt us. All of us are committed to excellent education for our children and we believe our small neighborhood schools should be saved. Let’s all work together to support our children and teachers and continue to provide excellence in education while maintaining our fiscal health and way of life.
Vote NO! on April 5th.

Contact Us

Save Small Schools HW (SSSHW) is not affiliated with, nor accepts donations from, the national or Massachusetts Republican, Democrat or Libertarian Party. SSSHW does not fundraise and receives no donations from private citizens or businesses. SSSHW is not a committee. Per the Office of Campaign Finance Planning: The Ballot Committee Question Law does not attach itself to activity at Town Meeting and no filing is necessary. SSSHW seeks only to educate and inform and is a call to action to attend Town Meeting.