Council Refers Regional School Budget To Finance Committee, Approves Water And Sewer Regulations

Report On The Meeting Of The Amherst Town Council, April 3, 2023, Part 2

This meeting was held in hybrid format and was recorded.It can be viewed here.

Present
Councilors in the Town Room: Lynn Griesemer (President, District 2), Mandi Jo Hanneke, and Andy Steinberg (at large), Cathy Schoen (District 1), Pat DeAngelis (District 2), Jennifer Taub (District 3), Anika Lopes (District 4), and Ana Devlin Gauthier (District 5).

Participating on Zoom: Michele Miller (District 1), Pat DeAngelis (District 2), Dorothy Pam (District 3), Pam Rooney (District 4), Shalini Bahl-Milne (District 5), and Ellisha Walker (at large).

Nonvoting members of the Finance Committee: Bob Hegner, Matt Holloway, and Bernie Kubiak.

Staff: Paul Bockelman (Town Manager), Sean Mangano (Finance Director), and Athena O’Keeffe (Clerk of the Council).

There were six members of the public present in Town Hall, and 13 on Zoom.

Preliminary Regional School Budget Referred To Finance Committee

Regional School Superintendent Mike Morris and School Finance Director Doug Slaughter presented the latest version of the regional school budget as voted by the Regional School Committee on March 21 that includes an additional $89,000 from increased state aid. Morris mentioned that the budget includes $97,000 in contingency funds and reserves due to uncertainty because four of six contracts are still unsettled. The remaining ESSER funds from COVID relief will be used to balance the budget, but Morris emphasized that these are one-time funds that will not be available next year. 

At the recent Four Towns meeting, “guardrails” were placed on the amount of increase the three smaller towns would be responsible for. Mandi Jo Hanneke (at large) asked if these limitations on increases for the small towns mean that Amherst is paying more than its fair share of the budget. Morris indicated that it did, but said that if the guardrails weren’t there, he imagined that there would be more uncertainty in the budget and potentially more cuts. He did say that Shutesbury agreed to increase its contribution by $9,000 this year.

Cathy Schoen (District 1) and Shalini Bahl Milne (District 5) asked about the $1 million decrease in the operating budget from the amount needed to maintain level services from previous years. Morris said this was required due to the decrease in enrollment, primarily at the middle school level, and that to maintain level services would mean increasing the budget by 5.1%, instead of the 3% allotted by the town. The one-time ESSER funds help ease the impact, but Slaughter noted that the state is contributing very little increase in funding, and that no money from the recently passed Fair Share Act are slated to go to K-12 schools.

Several members of the public and several councilors asked about the progress of the bargaining negotiations between the School Committee and the Amherst Pelham Educators’ Association (APEA). In public comment, Ian Rhodewalt asked the town to push legislators to increase funding for K-12 education through the Fair Share Act, which Amherst supported more than any other community statewide. 

Allegra Clark decried the condition of the middle school, noting the falling ceiling tiles and leaking roof. She urged the council to vote down the proposed school budget and insist on adequate funding for the schools. 

Rani Parker noted that everything seems to cost three times more in Amherst than in Hadley, and she wasn’t sure why, and  emphasized that Amherst should be paying teachers and paraprofessionals adequately. Amber Cano Martin and Carol Gray agreed.

Morris noted that Town Manager Paul Bockelman can attend the executive sessions with the union. Morris added that, although he cannot be a negotiating agent, Bockelman has been a helpful voice. Morris said that the schools try to avoid to letting people go whenever possible. He said that, especially with paraprofessional staff, there are usually openings within the school system, so they can be reassigned if their positions are eliminated.

The regional school budget was referred to the Finance Committee, which will hold a public hearing and make a recommendation to the Town Council at the April 24 council meeting.

Water And Sewer Bylaws And Regulations Approved On Consent Agenda
The revised water and sewer bylaws and regulations (see here, here, here and here) were approved unanimously on the consent agenda. The first reading was at the March 20 council meeting. All had been thoroughly discussed at the meetings of the Town Services and Outreach Committee (TSO) of the council over the past year and vetted by the Finance Committee. 

Councilor Dorothy Pam (District 3) wanted a motion made to ensure that the Town Council will revisit having the town take over ownership of the water and sewer lines from the main to the property line in two years, as voted at the February 27 council meeting. TSO member Ana Devlin Gauthier (District 5) said she was working at crafting such a motion and would bring it forward at a future meeting.

Resolutions And Proclamations
The following resolutions and proclamations were passed on the consent agenda:

Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day and Week Proclamation, sponsored by councilors Hanneke and Pam with community sponsor Sara Swartz, which states that “the Amherst Town Council proclaims May 11, 2023 to be Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day and May 7-13, 2023 as Children’s Mental Health Week to help cultivate awareness for all residents of Amherst.”

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Proclamation, sponsored by Councilor Hanneke and the Human Rights Commission, which states that “we the Amherst Town Council do hereby proclaim the month of May as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and ask you to join us in the Town’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month celebration on May 7, 2023 from noon to 4 p.m.”

The Universal Free Lunch resolution, sponsored by Councilors Bahl-Milne, Pam, Anika Lopes (District 4), and Jennifer Taub (District 3), which states that “we call on state leaders and legislators to pass bills HD766 and SD1013 to make universal free breakfast and lunch permanent in all public schools, with the state covering costs not covered by Federal funds and schools actively promoting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to families. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we further call for the immediate passage of a supplemental budget to fund universal free school meals for the remainder of the current school year, which will run out of funds this March without additional state action. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we invite other local officials and School Committees to call on their state representatives to do the same.”

The council meeting ended at 11:02 p.m. The next council meeting is scheduled for April 24.