When you go outside, you see piles of snow along the sides of the road. As you walk, you feel your shoes sinking deep into the snow, making your whole body cold. The wind is blowing against your face, pushing you backward and making it hard to walk. You are shivering to a point where your teeth chatter. It definitely feels like winter.

However, more than just the temperature is below freezing in Scituate: The Scituate Public School (SPS) system’s budget is frozen too.

When seven SHS students were asked if they knew about the budget freeze, six of them said they did not know. Three of these students even asked about the meaning of a “budget freeze.”  According to Superintendent John McCarthy, freezing the budget means that SPS had “unanticipated costs that exceeded the amount budgeted.” Some examples of these “unanticipated costs” are electricity and natural gas bills.

Superintendent McCarthy is concerned about the cost of heating in the winter. He explained that SPS has a fixed pricing for natural gas. However, the total cost is not determined until the warmer months.

Surprisingly, the budget freeze does not affect the daily classroom routines of students and teachers. McCarthy said, “Students aren’t going to notice. If you need something, you’ll have it,” further explaining, that this is a “discretionary spending” issue. SPS is not allowed to spend more money than it takes in.  As a result, the freeze was approved.

However, if high school teachers want the school to buy newer, more updated textbooks, their requests will have to wait. McCarthy assures everyone that students will not notice that the budget is temporarily frozen, as seen through the availability of necessary materials such as paper and the library’s new set of Chromebooks.

The budget freeze started in November, which is earlier than usual. But Principal Wargo acknowledged that there have been no complaints so far. He also added that no events had to be scaled back or cancelled because of the freeze.

McCarthy expects the freeze to be lifted at the end of February, or at the latest, the end of March. By March, the leaves will be growing back on the trees, and you may be able to feel a cool breeze brushing against your face, but you will not be shivering. It will feel like spring, and everything, including the SPS budget, will emerge from the winter weather.