Community Turns Out in Force to Advocate for Larger School Budget

Report on the Budget Hearing for the Amherst Elementary Schools, February 27, 2025

This hybrid meeting was conducted in person at the Amherst Regional High School library.  It was accessible on Zoom and was simulcast on Amherst Media Channel 15. The meeting was recorded.

Present
Amherst School Committee: Jennifer Shiao (Chair), Bridget Hynes, Deb Leonard, Sarah Marshall, and Irv Rhodes. Staff: E. Xiomara Herman (Superintendent) and Shannon Bernacchia (School Finance Director)

As with the budget hearing for the regional schools the night before, supporters of the Amherst elementary schools filled the high school library, with another 46 present on Zoom. In addition, 14 voicemails and many emails were submitted to protest the estimated $1.5 million in cuts to the elementary school budget next year. Many attendees encouraged the school committee to reject the budget that limited the increase in funds to 3.5% as directed by the Town Council Finance Committee and Town Manager Paul Bockelman. The preliminary Amherst town budget for FY2026 gives a 3.5% increase to municipal services, the Jones library, and the regional and elementary schools. 

School Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman termed the proposed FY26 elementary school budget  a “drastic cut.” She said, “We’ve done the best we can with the 3.5% increase, but still have a $1.5 million shortfall.” She also reminded people looking for savings in FY27, when the new K-5 elementary school will open, that the system will still have three schools because the sixth graders at the middle school will be separate from the region.

School Finance Director Shannon Bernacchia noted the stressors on next year’s budget. The schools were able to negotiate the increase in health insurance cost from 19.92% to 16%, but that is still more than the 13% originally budgeted. The transportation budget is increased by 10%, and a substantial increase will be budgeted for legal fees. Also, the schools are still in contract negotiations with the Amherst Pelham Educators Association, the largest union representing school employees. To offset some of these increased costs, Bernacchia is recommending moving $150,000 in school choice funds to the general budget. She has allocated the recently announced $125,000 donation per year from Amherst College to the elementary school band and orchestra programs. 

The cuts in the proposed $28 million budget include: reducing the specials teachers (art, music, physical education, and library) to 0.9 full time equivalents (FTE), eliminating four special education teachers across the three schools, reducing the band and orchestra staff to 0.9 FTE, three fewer classroom teachers (one in kindergarten at Crocker Farm, one in second grade at Wildwood, and one in fifth grade), and eliminating two paraprofessionals (one in kindergarten and one in the Caminantes Dual Language program. The reduction in classroom teachers will depend on student registration and on the availability of van  transportation between Wildwood and Crocker Farm. The Intensive Decoding and Fluency program, an intensive reading instruction, will also be eliminated.

The three elementary school principals and the director of special education emphasized the detrimental effects of the proposed cuts. Classroom size is estimated to rise from 20 to 24 students per class. Special education teachers’ caseload would increase from eight to nine or ten students. Specials teachers would each have four fewer teaching hours per week.

Many of the parents and educators who spoke at the hearing decried the loss of the Intensive Decoding and Fluency program and its teacher, Betsy Dinger. The program targets children with reading difficulty in the early grades, teaching them ways to master reading skills. Dinger said that after two years in the program, 84% of students who enter reading at a kindergarten level have progressed two or three grades. A letter from six special education teachers, read by Julie Haddad, noted that prior to instituting this program, many of those students would have been sent out of the district at a cost of about $50,000 per child per year. The intensive program allowed these students to remain in the district. A parent of a student in the program emphasized that, if not corrected early, reading problems can affect a person’s entire life.

Other speakers advocated for the music and art programs, noting that the band and orchestra programs in the elementary school affect the successful ensembles at the high school that have sent many young musicians to play at the district and state level. Several people noted that the special subjects give students with difficulty in academic areas a chance to shine and develop confidence. Fifth grader Ella Templeton-Suzuki said that many of the positions being cut are those that help students get through the day.

Allegra Clark stated that year after year cuts are made that affect the most vulnerable students. She spoke for bringing the full budget to the town officials. Parents and students praised the staff. Rachel Hall said, “Do not ask if we are going to fund these positions, but how. Teachers are begging to educate our children.” A number of parents told the school committee that they moved to Amherst because of the reputation of the schools, and that decreasing the quality of the education will send more students to private and charter schools.

UMass contributes far less to the town’s schools than it pays to its basketball coach and to the coach of a football team that hasn’t had a winning season in 18 years.
– Lincoln Smith, Music Educator, Amherst Public Schools

Teacher Lincoln Smith said he took a significant pay cut to come to Amherst because he felt that the town valued education. Yet UMass contributes far less to the town’s schools than it pays its basketball coach and the coach of a football team that hasn’t had a winning season in 18 years.

Angelica Bernal noted that, while we cannot affect the changes in education on the national level, we can at the local level. She said that education is just as essential as roads or drinking water. Parents and educators are not asking for luxury, but for the necessities. 

Georgia Malcolm and several others called attention to the budget surpluses that Amherst has realized over the past five years that would more than cover the deficits in the school funding. Malcolm noted that, while the school committee could advocate for more funding for the school, the power lies with the Town Manager and the Town Council.

School committee member Deb Leonard told the school supporters that the budgeting process is still ongoing in Amherst. She noted that the school committee had advocated against assigning an equal percentage increase for each town division, but was unsuccessful. She recommended that advocates for the school appeal to the Finance Committee and Town Council to rescind the financial guidelines developed which specify the across-the-board 3.5% increase. The Town Manager is obliged to follow the council’s guidelines, she said.

The Amherst School committee will next meet on March 18 for further discussion on the budget. No vote will be taken at that meeting, but another meeting will be scheduled the following week to finalize the committee’s position on the budget.