Public Comment: Budget Should Prioritize Educational Programs and Educators’ Salaries

By Marisol Pierce Bonifaz, Julian Hynes, Amrita Rutter, Sitta Rutter, Claire Lindsey, and Lucy Thompson

The following public comments were submitted in writing to the Amherst School Committee on Match 29, 2022 for their meeting on the same date.

Marisol Pierce Bonifaz
My name is Marisol Pierce Bonifaz. I am a resident of District One in Amherst. I am a freshman at Amherst Regional High School. I am a Co-Hub Lead at Sunrise Amherst. Sunrise Amherst is the local hub of a national, intersectional, youth-led movement working towards achieving climate justice and racial equity. Sunrise Amherst engaged in a campaign during discussions of the FY 2022 Budget to support the prioritization of our education, racial equity programs, affordable housing programs, and climate justice initiatives. We organized a town hall, a rally, and gathered 160 signatures in public support. In this budget cycle, we must not repeat our mistakes from the last fiscal budget year. Teachers, paraprofessionals, ELL Coordinators, art teachers, and tech teachers, are the people who raise my generation and put light into our lives. They are responsible for giving us space to dream, hope, and learn. Every student is supported by these programs, especially special ed and ELL, and they cannot go underfunded. I support Jennifer Page’s proposal to transition ESSER funding for such purposes and ensure in all ways we possibly can that adequate funding is going into raising the generation. There is not a lack of funding for these programs. We have seen, time and time again, with the inflated Police Department budget, that this is no excuse. The average town employee is paid $74,000 per year whereas the average police officer makes $101,000 per year, (cited from Employee Salaries and Data Rolls in Amherst 2020). Officer salaries are 87% above the national average, 6% higher than teachers, and 144% higher than paraprofessionals. This must not go on. Superintendent Mike Morris, and all School Committee members, please prioritize the ARPS School District and elementary school when determining the FY 2023 Budget. My generation depends on it.

Julian Hynes
My name is Julian Hynes. I am a resident of District Four in Amherst and am a sophomore at Amherst Regional High School. I also am a Hub Lead at Sunrise Amherst. In the FY22 Budget Cycle Sunrise Amherst organized and supported the prioritization of our education system, racial equity programs, affordable housing, and climate justice initiatives. We organized a town hall, a rally, and gathered 160 signatures in public support of our school budget. A vast majority of these signatures were from parents, educators and town staff who have first hand experience with why public education is critical. Unfortunately, despite this, the FY22 Budget sustained significant cuts to art and technology programs. It is my understanding that the FY23 Budget appears to be more hopeful. I believe that the school district can and should find the funding to restore these positions to full time. The cost of living in Amherst and the surrounding area is very high and rising. Asking these art and technology teachers to sustain themselves while providing the exceptional educational services we have come to expect on a part time basis is nearly impossible. In fact, I believe it shows a lack of support for both our educators and students. In this budget cycle, I implore you to not repeat the mistakes from the FY22 Budget year. Teachers, paraprofessionals, ELL Coordinators, art teachers, and tech teachers, are doing the hard, emotionally draining work to raise my generation. They are responsible for giving us the space to dream, hope, and learn. Personally, art, technology and other “elective” programs were spaces where I could relax from everyday stress in both school and home environments while practicing skills I can use the rest of my life. Every student is supported by these programs, especially those enrolled in special education and/or ELL services like myself. I and Sunrise Amherst fully support Jennifer Shiao’s proposal to transition ESSER funding for such purposes. Thank you.

Amrita Rutter
I am Amrita Rutter and I am 16 years old. I am a resident of District Two, a sophomore at ARHS and one of the hub leads of Amherst Sunrise. I am writing this because I am concerned that the art and tech salaries will not be restored to full time. Last year in the midst of COVID, we saw a huge budget cut to our school which resulted in these cuts to tech and art. Being a student and knowing we can’t afford to lose those classes I threw myself entirely into the issue. Everyone I talked to was on my side, teachers, students, parents, and many residents not connected to the school. Despite this, the cuts still happened. In response to our anger we were told that this was most likely temporary and that the budget would have the opportunity to be restored in the next cycle. Here is our opportunity to restore it. 

I ask you to think back to when you were in high school. No matter how you look at it, no matter how much you learned from it, it is a scary, stressful and extremely rough time. I am always worrying about grades and tests and college. Almost every conversation I have on a given day ends in “ I don’t want to be here “ or “ I don’t know if I’m going to make it to the end of today” to which we laugh and say “we are so close”. The only times I don’t feel anxious during the day are in my electives, art and tech classes. They are fun and engaging and I stop thinking about all the stuff I have to get done and just get to create for a little bit. Art for me and many of my peers is a necessity. 

The art and tech teachers that I have had this year absolutely deserve to be full time! They are one of the only reasons I go to school every day, I have had fun in their classes, and I have learned some real things. So I want to say thank you to all the art and tech teachers at ARHS and ask that the school committee restore them to full time.

Sita Rutter
I am in 6th grade in Fort River and live in District 2. I think art and tech are both very important to teach our young minds at Fort River elementary. To get rid of art in an elementary school is to tell the kids they can’t be artists and is to limit their creativity. A lot of young kids really love art class and for some of them it is the only reason they even go to school, so those kids would have a harder time and probably be less happy at school. Not having art class will make it so kids that would grow to love art barely even know what it is and would not know that they loved it. 

In addition to thinking that getting rid of art is a terrible idea, I also think getting rid of tech will make it very hard to have a proper education in middle and high school. If you get rid of tech you are getting rid of the proper education on how to use computers for making online projects and essays that we will do in middle school, and you are also getting rid of teaching kids how to safely use the internet.

So I hope you will please consider what I am saying and not get rid of very important parts of a young education at Fort River Elementary School.

Claire Lindsey

This is Claire Lindsey, and I am a student at ARHS and a member of Sunrise Amherst. I am writing to show my support for the funding of arts, tech, ELL, and special education in the school budget. Personally, I know many people who would not have attended the high school for their senior year if not for the art and other programs offered here. All of these special programs add to the rich learning culture in our district and help prepare students for whatever they may face in their lives. I, myself, have found incredible joy and talent in art programs at the high school that I will continue to pursue after graduating this spring. 

Lucy Thompson
My name is Lucy Thompson. I am a student at Amherst Regional High School and a new member of Amherst Sunrise, a student-led organization that strives to fight for climate and racial justice. I am offering my comment in the hopes that I can help in the fight for equal distribution of funds within Amherst. Teachers are among the most important jobs out there. They educate future generations and dedicate their lives to spreading knowledge, and for this I am incredibly grateful. No matter what type of teacher they are, their work is vital. Since joining Sunrise, I have learned that a large portion of town funding goes towards the police, and a tiny amount in comparison to this is put into our public schools and towards teachers. In addition to this, money is not being put towards things like racial equity, climate justice and affordable housing programs. I am grateful for the opportunity to make my voice heard in this discussion and hopeful that the new budget plans will prioritize the systems that help our town grow and flourish. 

Marisol Pierce Bonifaz, Julian Hynes, Amrita Rutter, Sitta Rutter, Claire Lindsey, and Lucy Thompson are students in the Amherst Public Schools