The Hudson Budget Committee met on Dec. 11 to finalize its contribution to the upcoming school budget after several earlier meetings. SAU81 Superintendent Dr. Dan Moulis presented the district’s technology spending plan, highlighting growing costs for hardware and software replacements.
“A couple of things that popped out to me,” said Committee member Kevin Walsh. “On page four, you talk about the tech equipment replacement – the switch replacement has up to a 46% discount. Is this the discounted price? Or is this the gross price and you’re expecting to have a discount for the $90,000?”
Moulis confirmed that the $90,000 figure reflected the discounted price, noting that even with savings, replacing obsolete servers had become more expensive than anticipated.
“Those switch-server costs, in the last two years in particular, have increased exponentially,” he said.
Staff laptops were another priority for SAU81 officials, as many devices are now over seven years old. These expenses come on top of student laptop purchases, which raised questions from Committee member Shawn Jasper.
“If you go into the detail on the IT for grade six, we’re buying 250 laptops. In grade six, we have 160 students,” Jasper said. “We’re budgeting for 80 more laptops than we have students. There’s something wrong there.”
Board member Donna Boucher noted a similar discrepancy for grade nine.
“It seems like it’s overstated by at least a little bit – maybe a ten percent cushion sounds generous,” added Committee member Bob Wherry.
Moulis promised to review the numbers, explaining that the district follows a “refresh cycle” for critical equipment like laptops, which represents an annual, ongoing cost.
“We do try to shop around to see where we can get the best vendor,” he said. “We do try to buy those in a little bit of a bulk package, because we do get a little bit of a discount.”
Committee member Randy Brownrigg questioned whether students truly needed laptops at home.
“Do the students really need a computer to do all the work? Why can’t they do all of this work at school?” he asked.
Moulis responded that much homework is now posted and submitted electronically, making laptops essential for flexibility.
Committee Chair James Lawrence noted that the total technology request was approximately $2.5 million, including personnel, hardware, and software costs. While acknowledging that salaries remain a major expense, Moulis said one technical position had been removed from the 2026-2027 budget.
“You say that you’re reducing your staff, but I’m looking at your actuals from FY2025, and I’m looking at what your proposed budget is going in for this particular budget cycle, and you’re about $100,000 more than you were then. Was there some kind of shift in the salaries on your team?” asked Lawrence. “I would’ve assumed that if you remove a body from there, you’d see the number go down.”
Moulis admitted he was unsure why the figure had increased and promised to review the numbers again.
