Just a brief update on where we are with the school budgets.
The Regional Schools (ARMS & ARHS) Budget is fairly non-controversial and likely to be approved by all four towns. Leverett has already approved and Pelham and Shutesbury will hold their Town Meetings on 5/9. The Amherst Finance Committee is in the process of reviewing the budget and it will ultimately come to a Town Council vote. Because this budget came in under the amount approved by the Town Manager and Town Council, it should pass without issues in Amherst.
The Elementary Schools (Amethyst Brook, Crocker Farm and 6th Grade) budget is a bit more complicated. Dr. Xi initially submitted a budget that fit within the amount the Town Council and Town Manager indicated was available. The School Committee subsequently asked for a higher budget that added back in some of the positions cut in the initial budget (several Specials Teachers as well as a couple of Coach/Intervention positions). This budget is $572.310 above the amount the Town Manager had said was available. There has been some confusion about what this budget would add back in so I just want to add that the voted budget would not restore special education positions. On Friday, the Town Manager issued his proposed budget and in that budget, the amount he included for the Elementary Schools is slightly higher than the original number, making the gap between the budget the School Committee passed and what Amherst says it can afford come down to $502,939. The additional $69,000 came from money that would have gone to the Regional Schools if the other three towns had also been able to pay more.
One confusing thing about all of this is the percentage increase, as the Town and the Elementary schools are using different calculation methodologies. Initially, the Town Manager had said that the Elementary Schools could have a 3.85% increase, and if you look at his budget, you will see that it shows the schools getting a 5.10% increase. That is because last year, the Elementary schools received their annual allocation PLUS $269,704 in free cash to help close the FY26 budget gap. When the Town Manager is calculating the percentage increase from FY26 to FY27, he isn’t including that $269,704 in the base for FY26, because it was supposed to be a one-time gift. That’s why it shows up as a larger percentage increase. The Elementary Schools though, are counting that money in their FY26 budget so the percentage increases will not match. When you see a 5.10% increase for Elementary in the Town Budget, it really translates to a 4.09% increase in the way that the Elementary Schools are calculating it. The 5.87% budget passed by the School Committee would translate to a 6.89% increase in the way that the Town Manager is calculating the change. Hope that makes a little sense.
On Monday May 4th at 6:30 pm, the Town Manager will present his budget to the Town Council. It will then be referred to the Finance Committee. After the Finance Committee holds meetings on the budget by topic in May, it will make its recommendations and send the Budget back to the Town Council for a vote. The Town Council is able to increase the amount for the schools but also must pass a balanced budget, so there is the question of where the additional funds would come from if the Council elected to allocate more.
On Thursday May 7th at 3pm, the Finance Committee will meet with Dr. Xi and School Committee Chairs who will answer questions about the School Budgets. Questions were sent to the Schools in advance two weeks ago. This meeting is on Zoom.
On Monday May 11th at 6:30 pm, the Finance Committee will hold a hearing on the FY27 proposed budget which is an opportunity for the public to comment on any aspect of the Town Budget, including the amount allocated for the schools. This meeting is in person at Town Hall and via Zoom.
We will update with information as the process moves along over the next month. The final budget must be voted before July 1st, which is the start of the next fiscal year.