Superintendent Search Committee Announced. Large Budget Shortfall Expected for Regional School District in FY 2025.

Report on the Joint Meeting of the Amherst Regional School Committee and Union 26 School Committee. January 23, 2024. 

The meeting was held in the Amherst Regional High School Library and was simulcast over Amherst Media’s Channel 15. The recording of the meeting can be viewed here. 

Present
Sarahbess Kenney (Chair Regional School Committee), Pelham), Anna Heard (Shutesbury), Bridget Hynes (Amherst), Deb Leonard (Amherst), Sarah Marshall (Amherst), Jennifer Shiao (Amherst), William Sherr (Pelham), Margaret Stancer (Pelham), Tilman Wolf (Leverett). Irv Rhodes (Chair Union 26, Amherst) participated remotely.

Markyta Ables-Conyers of the Pelham School Committee was  present for the opening discussion about the superintendent search.

Most of the 4-hour, 52-minute meeting was taken up with work of the superintendent search committee and a discussion of the high school track and field renovation. The track and field discussion is reported elsewhere in the Indy. The committee also received a preliminary report on the regional school budget from the district’s assistant finance director, Shannon Bernancchia.

Superintendent’s Search Community Input Session
Dr. Ralph Ferrie and Dr. Candis Finan from the executive search firm McPherson Jacobson gave an informal update on the public outreach component of the search. Both are retired school superintendents and Ferrie is the regional director for the firm’s eastern region.

Five public listening sessions have been held thus far and an additional five have been scheduled between now and Sunday, January 26. A survey seeking community input can be found here and it asks the same four questions that are being asked at the public listening sessions:

1. What is attractive about living in this district?

2. What does the district have to offer?

3. What are the challenges the new superintendent needs to address in order to be successful?

4. What characteristics would you like to see in the new superintendent?

Ferrie reported that the results of the public sessions and the survey will be summarized for the RSC soon. He said this information will help the firm locate candidates who are a good match with the district. He also reported that the firm has sent out 2,100 emails as part of the process of seeking applicants. 

School Committee’s Response to the Survey Questions
The School Committee had requested an opportunity to offer its own responses to the questions that have been posed to the public. Their responses are consolidated below and can be viewed on the video recording beginning at time stamp 32:00.

1. What is attractive about living in this district?

• Interesting combination of rural and urban 
• Strong emphasis on education. Three institutions of higher education are in Amherst. Two of the other Five Colleges are nearby
• Diversity – the town is far more diverse than you would expect– culturally, ethnically, linguistically, and diverse in identities
• The Amherst community tends to be highly engaged
• Beautiful environment and landscape — still much agriculture
• Good restaurants and good value compared to a city. Diverse food offerings and a lot of farm-to-table
• Boston and Hartford are close
• Lots of arts and cultural offerings here
• Close to high-quality medical care
• Progressive municipal initiatives like CRESS and programs in the schools such as Restorative Justice and Caminantes. 
• A local population with strongly held views and a penchant for expressing them. 

2. What does the district have to offer?

• Progressive educational values
• A large proportion of the student population attends public schools
• Strong art, music, and theatre programs
• 20% special education
• Strong history of creative course offerings (e.g., a disability justice literature course)
• Instructors have a lot of room to be creative in their teaching
• Strong educator teams within the buildings
• All members of the School Committee are elected in competitive elections and all four towns are represented by people from their community.

3. What challenges does the new superintendent need to address in order to be successful?

• There’s a lot of division in this town so we need someone who has a lot of cultural competence and is good at building bridges and bringing folks together
• Trust in school leadership among some in the community has been breached on multiple levels and in multiple ways. There are families and staff who believe that they will not be treated fairly by the district. The new superintendent can’t assume that he or she  will have the trust of the community. They will have to earn that trust and we need someone who knows this and wants to take on that challenge
• Racism, LGBTQ discrimination, and other biases — the new superintendent will need to address feelings/experiences of bias and discrimination and non-inclusion among both students and staff 
• Physical plant — some big changes coming along — a new elementary school, a track and field renovation, and the need for some major repairs, such as the Middle School roof. New superintendent will step in while these changes are happening
• 6th grade move. Much to be resolved but this must happen no later than the fall of 2026.
• Tight budget — superintendent will face a budget deficit in their first year and a lot of concern about the impact of budget challenges and cuts to curricula
• Communication — there is a lot of room for improvement. District needs to work harder to include a fuller range of voices in the community and on being transparent
• The achievement gap. District needs to be mindful of meeting the needs of all of its students
• Bullying remains a problem

4. What features/characteristics do you want to see in your new superintendent?

• Teambuilder: we need someone who will make everyone on staff feel welcome and part of the team
• Good communicator: we need a good communicator who will keep all stakeholders fully and accurately informed in a relatable way and is transparent about what is going on in the district.
• Strong leader with a backbone
• Someone who isn’t afraid of the queer community 
• Someone who is committed to accountability throughout the chain of leadership and staff
• Someone who will put together a strong administrative team that works well together
• Ideally, someone with the lived experience of having a marginalized identity (understood broadly)
• Someone with a vision of preparing our students for the future

Subcommittee for a New Superintendent (SNS) Update
Jennifer Shiao reported that the subcommittee has received 56 applications for the 20 seats on the Superintendent Search Committee and that the SNS has come up with a recommended list of 20 people. She offered a detailed report on how the members of the superintendent’s search committee had been selected. She noted that each applicant indicated an association with one or more of 40 categories (e.g. parent/guardian, employee, non-majority identity, etc.) that the committee had determined to fill (see below). Applicants were also invited to write a statement about what they believe they will bring to the search. The committee aimed for each category to be represented by at least one member. Four of the categories were not checked by any applicant, and thus will not be filled. These are:

● Amherst Regional Public School building principal

● Identify as Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander

● Member of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW)

● Summit Academy parent/guardian

The list of candidates chosen follows and was approved unanimously by the Regional School Committee.

Markyta Ables-Conyers
Yari Bachand
Inanna Balkin
Robert Boutilier
Maureen Fleming
Yael Fuerst
Alexandra Hebert-Markiewicz
Miguelina Hernandez
Ellen Jedrey-Guidera
Swan Keyes
Swetha Krishnaswamy
José Lugo
Jen Malcolm-Brown
Sarah Marshall
Joe Russavage
Robin Santiago
Martha Toro
Elisha Walker
Kate Westafer
Debbie Westmoreland

At least one committee member is associated with each of the following categories:

● Amherst elementary school parent/guardian
● Amherst elementary school employee
● Amherst Regional High School (ARHS) parent/guardian
● Amherst Regional High School (ARHS) student
● Amherst Regional Middle School (ARMS) parent/guardian
● Amherst resident
● Amherst Regional Public School (ARPS) administrator
● ARPS educator
● ARPS non-educator employee
● ARPS paraeducator
● ARPS Special Education educator
● Direct report of Superintendent
● Parent/guardian of English language learner student
● Experience living with poverty
● Identify as American Indian or Alaska Native
● Identify as Asian
● Identify as Black or African American
● Identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color)
● Identify as LBGTQIA+ (Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, Transgender, Queer/Questioning,Intersexual, Asexual, plus)
● Identify as Hispanic or Latinx/Latine/Latino/Latina
● Identify as member of other historically marginalized group
● Identify as person with a disability
● Leverett resident
● Member of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
● Member of Amherst Pelham Education Association (APEA)
● Member of Amherst Pelham Administrator Association (APAA)
● Member of municipal government (Towns of Amherst, Leverett, Pelham, or Shutesbury)
● Member of Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC)
● Native speaker of language other than English
● Pelham elementary school parent/guardian
● Pelham elementary school employee
● Pelham resident
● Regional School Committee or Union 26 School Committee member
● Shutesbury resident
● Parent/guardian of a special education

A listing of all 56 applicants and the personal statements of each can be found here.

SNS recommended that the search committee have co-chairs, with one appointed by the joint committee (Sarah Marshall) and one to be elected by the Search Committee from among its members.

A draft charge for the search committee has been posted, but a note will be added later, saying that the search committee will elect the second co-chair. The charge was passed unanimously by both the RSC and the Union 26 committee.

Administration
There was a preliminary discussion of three possible school calendars for next year – one had an August 26 first day of school and a longer winter break, another had an August 28 first day of school and a shorter winter break. A third calendar (labeled “draft 1”) had a post-Labor Day first day of school, but was deemed not feasible because it pushed the possible last day of school into July, which is prohibited by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.. Those calendars can be viewed here, here, and here. Slaughter said he is holding off on a decision until he receives a response from the union and the RSC. (see also here).

Initial Budget Presentation for Amherst Pelham Regional School District
Assistant Director of Finance Bernancchia  presented the draft FY 2025 budget for the Amherst Pelham Regional School District. She noted that more information will be coming in over the next few weeks, with a public budget hearing planned for February and a final SC vote on the council expected in late March or early April.

The operating budget of $36,496,441 represents an 8.3% increase over FY 24, and a deficit is anticipated that could require as much as $2 million in cuts.

Special education costs remain high with a 4.6% increase anticipated in FY 25, following a 14% increase in FY 24. Bernancchia indicated that the district is hoping for some federal relief in this area. Health insurance costs are expected to increase by 12%, school liability insurance by 12%  to 20%, and payroll costs are up by 9.9%.

Bridget Hynes asked Slaughter to provide multiple models that show budgets without the almost $2 million in cuts.

Shiao asked about what the district is doing to lower the liability insurance costs.

Slaughter responded that the district is doing many things to demonstrate that risk is being mitigated, including introducing more staff training, aligning practice with policy, and demonstrating that the district is responding to the Title IX investigative reports.

Anna Heard said that the leaking Middle School roof has become a health and safety hazard due to the proliferation of mold, and a risk that people might get sick or somehow be injured. She asked whether the district can apply for emergency funds to fix it. 

Slaughter responded that the district is about $2 million short of what is needed (versus what has been authorized) right now.

Superintendent’s Report
Six students at ARHS have qualified for the All-state Music Festival, a notable accomplishment.

Shiao asked about the status of the union contracts and the backlog of completing missing background checks.

Slaughter reported that the contracts have been sent to the union and that the district is down to the last few remaining background checks to be completed.

He also reported that the Middle School principal job description is posted and that the district has begun to collect resumes.