Updates from Public Meetings

Please join us on Monday 11/17 to advocate for more money for our schools from the Town of Amherst. We will rally at 6pm at Town Hall and make public comment at the meeting at 7pm. More details below. Town Council Forum on the Budget: On Monday 11/17 at 7pm, the Town Council will hold the annual Forum on the budget. This is a critical opportunity for the public to communicate with the Town Council about budget priorities for FY27 (the 2026-2027 school year). The Town Finance Committee is drafting their budget guidelines now. These guidelines act as a map for the Town Manager to follow as he makes the budget. Town Council is likely to approve them in December, which is why we have to advocate NOW for more money for the schools. The draft school budgets are not out yet so we do not know the size of the projected deficits, but all predictions are that this will be a difficult budget year.  Please come to the meeting at Town Hall or join by Zoom to make a public comment. The time limit is likely...

We are at a critical moment right now where we really need advocacy for state funding reform. Please consider either showing up to the virtual hearing on November 18th (registration required – instructions below) and/or submitting written testimony (address below).     Several of the SOS Amherst community members went to the public listening session in Greenfield on Thursday, and both Representative Mindy Domb and Senator Jo Comerford are urging the public to speak up now about this. They say that the state needs to hear from the stakeholders (parents, caregivers, educators) about this, and not just municipal and school committee elected officials. That means us!   The most critical thing you can share is your own personal perspective. You can simply share your own observations or experiences of how the chronic underfunding of our schools impacts the schools and our children. This might include highlighting understaffing, positions and programs that have been...

The Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools is making a  plea for more people to speak up for changes to state funding. There is a listening session on Thursday 11/6 4:30 – 6:30 in Greenfield that some Amherst families are planning to attend. If you can’t attend, there is also a virtual session on 11/18 (registration is required – instructions below), or you can submit written comments to C70PublicComment@mass.gov These listening sessions are focused on the local contribution – meaning the split between what a town is required to pay versus what the state is required to pay for public education. It is important to note that tweaking just this part of the Chapter 70 (school funding) formula won’t actually help Amherst or the Regional schools very much because, like 210 other districts in MA, our funding is calculated differently, because our enrollment is declining. And our two school districts have seen a steeper decline than pretty much anywhere else,...

Every year, the Town Council invites the public to submit written comments as part of the Town Manager’s evaluation. Comments are due by midnight, Thursday October 30th. Although he is not directly involved in developing the budget for the schools, the Town Manager has a lot of impact on how much funding reaches the schools. We hope that you will take a moment to complete the Town Manager’s evaluation. Members of SOS Amherst have compiled some suggestions taht you might consider when completing the evaluation form, specifically for question two which asks about areas for improvement.    What you can say:   2) Please share up to three areas for improvement you observed in the Town Manager’s performance over the past year Provide proactive clarity and transparency with all budgets, including requiring other municipal departments to provide detailed budgets (like the schools do), and make these budgets publicly available. Budgets...

This handy chart and a lot of other info can also be found on our Resources page.

Endorsements: Please do your research about candidates rather than relying solely on endorsements. Some candidates have chosen to not engage with endorsements at all because they have been divisive in the past. Other candidates have declined to be endorsed by specific groups for various reasons. A number of candidates declined to be endorsed by Amherst Forward, and thus are not included in Amherst Forward’s endorsement list. Additionally, Amherst Forward has endorsed some candidates whose history demonstrates a lack of support of funding our schools or working collaboratively with school leadership. Among them are Mandi Jo Hanneke (at-large) and George Ryan (District 3).    Last spring Mandi Jo Hanneke introduced a motion to remove $269,704 in elementary school funding for FY26, and her motion was seconded by George Ryan. Ultimately, the vote failed, with only Councilor Hanneke voting for it. Councilor Ryan’s language around the schools has been so troubling...

Find out what candidates say about our public schools in the League of Women Voters 2025 Voting Guide here. League of Women Voters’ forum for districts 1,2,3,4 on 10/15/25: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKWs3PEVzvg   Do candidates express doubt, negativity, or minimize our schools’ need for additional funds?  Do candidates say very little or nothing at all about schools? Or, Do candidates commit to finding a solution to getting our schools the funds they need?!

On Monday June 16, 2025 the Amherst Town Council approved the FY26 Budget. It includes the 4.81% increase in funding for the Regional Schools and a 5% increase for the Elementary Schools, 1% ($269,704) of which is being considered as one-time funds which will not be included in the calculation for next year. As a reminder, the Elementary School Committee actually voted a 6% increase, so this is less than the Elementary Schools asked for.    At the last minute, Councilor Mandi Jo Hanneke attempted to claw back $269,704 in funding for the Elementary Schools. Her motion was seconded by Councilor George Ryan who joined Councilor Hanneke in arguing for withholding this money from the Elementary Schools. Ultimately, only Councilor Hanneke voted for her motion and the motion failed. During the meeting itself, Councilor Pat D’Angelis also argued for withholding money from the schools.    The stated objection to allocating these funds to the Elementary Schools...

Lots of info – Show up June 16 for budget vote; YOU can run for open seats this fall on Town Council & the School Committee Quick recap: The budget for the Regional Schools has been approved by all four member towns. See the SOS post here for a refresher on that budget and what we know about positions lost/restored, etc… It seems as though the Amherst Finance Committee will recommend the 5% increase for the Elementary Schools, but will send a letter asking for acknowledgement that $269,704 of that is “one-time” money and won’t be included in the base for the increase calculation next year. More details regarding positions lost/restored available in our post here.  The full Town Council will take up the budget on Monday June 16th at 6:30pm, with a possible vote that night – this would be a good meeting to remind Town Council that we are still paying attention, still care about school funding, and are disturbed by the...

    While the final budgets for the schools don’t provide everything the school superintendent requested for next year, there are fewer student facing cuts than there could have been. There continues to be a long overdue need for an overhaul in town council to change the culture to full transparency and enthusiastic financial support for excellent public schools.    We will keep trying. Take good care of yourselves and each other. – SOS Amherst ————————————————————————————————————–   Regional Budget – On Monday 5/19, the Amherst Town Council approved Amherst’s portion of the Regional Schools budget, becoming the third town to do so.Town Council meeting recording here. The Amherst Finance Committee, wrote a Memo to Town Council regarding the Regional...

On May 5, 2025, Amherst Town Manager Paul Bockelman gave his presentation of the FY26 Budget. Recording here. Presentation here. FY26 Budget here. FY Capital Improvement Plan here.  Today, Dr. Xi and the District Finance Director, Shannon Bernacchia appeared at the Finance Committee meeting to answer questions about the budget requests (Video recording here). A longer summary is after upcoming action opportunities that need your support.    ACTION – PUBLIC COMMENT at upcoming Meetings: Friday May 9th 8:00-9:30am – Cuppa’ Joe with Town Manager Paul Bockelman – The topic is the FY26 budget. Location: Bangs patio or inside Room 101 if raining. Monday May 12th, 6:30pm – Finance Committee Public Hearing on the Budget -The meeting will be virtual only. It would be great if we had a good showing at this public hearing – this is the last significant opportunity to speak publicly on behalf of the budget....

The Town Manager’s budget book is out and includes a 4.81% increase for the Region and a 5% increase for the Elementary Schools, as recommended by the Town Council. The amount for the Elementary Schools is less than the 6% increase voted by the School Committee.    The budget is here: https://www.amherstma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/78496/FINAL-BUDGET-BOOK–5-1-25   Where are we with the school budgets right now?  It is worth pointing out that despite this misleading headline from the Gazette, the Town Manager’s budget really doesn’t even come close to granting what the schools actually need.  While the Budget does meet the voted request of the Regional Schools, the Region will still cut 12.1 positions. This additional money avoids cutting even more but the Region was still forced to eliminate $812,126 in spending and 12.1 positions. We are still waiting for news on votes on the Regional Budget at the three Town...

 Town Council Meeting – Monday 4/28 There was a lengthy discussion of two separate proposals to form committees/working groups related to the long-term fiscal stability of the school districts. One was submitted by Councilor Ana Devlin Gauthier and the other by Council President Lynn Griesemer and Councilor Cathy Schoen. Discussion starts around the one hour mark of the video. Here are some of quick takeaways:  We already have two bodies responsible for discussion and coordination of budget needs – and they are not being well used by the Town Council. The Council should try to use these existing avenues first before creating a whole new body.  Four Towns meetings are opportunities for leadership from Amherst, Shutesbury, Pelham and Leverett along with leadership for the Regional Schools to discuss budget needs of the Regional Schools as well as the resources available in the four towns. The Amherst Town Council has...

What’s next and Thank you! Thank you so much to everyone who came out on 4/13/25 to the SOS/LWV Community Conversation on School Funding – we had some great energy and lots of ideas for how to move forward and will have more to share on that soon.  Save the Date – Monday May 12th 6:30pm will be the Town of Amherst Public Hearing on the FY26 Budget We wanted to send out an update on where we are right now with the school budgets and what comes next. The School budget requests have been made. The Elementary Schools are asking for a 6% increase over last year which would require $539,408 more than the Town of Amherst has said it would like to give. The Regional Schools are asking for a 4.81% increase, which would require 152,136 more than the Town of Amherst has said it would like to give. The Town of Amherst’s Financial Guidelines suggest a 4% increase for all sectors of town (schools, library, municipal services). The Region is asking for 4.81% and the Elementary...

Reminder that tomorrow (Sunday April 13th), we will be holding our Community Conversation on School Funding in conjunction with the Amherst League of Women Voters. 2-4pm at Crocker Farm. Please enter via Shays Street Entrance (see attached map for parking location). Over the past year, we have been told “NO” a lot No – The schools can’t have more money No – The Town can’t change anything about its budgeting process No – You can’t say that you feel Councilors don’t care about our kids because that’s “uncivil” No – You can’t say that education should be prioritized because that’s pitting one need against another No – You can’t have more than two minutes to make a public comment On Sunday, we hope to move past some of these “NOs,” to talk about why we bump up against so much resistance, and how we can move forward. Join us! Bring a friend! Bring your kids – we will have...

Update on School budgets At the 4/10/25 Town Council meeting, after a lot of convoluted and confusing discussion, the Council took three votes relevant to the schools’ budgets. Video here. Details below but it seems like there is a fairly broad consensus that the Town Councilors want to give a 4.81% increase to the Regional Schools (this is the same number the Regional School Committee voted) and 5% to the Elementary Schools (this is less than the 6% increase that the Amherst School Committee voted). All of this, though, is just a recommendation and the Town Manager ultimately can decide what numbers to include in his budget, which is due May 1st. The Town Manager is claiming that allocating this money to the schools would be a hardship for his own budget, but presented no details.  What happened at Town Council? First vote – The Town Council voted 7-6 against a motion to amend Ana Devlin Gauthier’s proposal to say that the FY26 Financial Guidelines should be changed...

What: Town Council Meeting When:  Monday April 7th, 6:30 PMWhere/How: In person at Town Hall or via ZoomAnd/or email your Town CouncilorsWhat to ask: Change the budget guidelines to direct the Town Manager to include the amount requested by the schools in the FY26 budget and vote yes to the Regional Schools budget as passed by the School Committee. These budgets restore the most essential positions and still require deep cuts – they are a fraction of what our schools need and the Town can afford it.  On Monday April 7th, Town Council will continue its discussion of Councilor Ana Devlin Gauthier’s proposal to increase the percentage for the schools for FY26 by amending the budget guidelines. As far as the Elementary School budget goes, unless the Council amends the guidelines, the Town Manager can give the schools a lower budget amount than requested, and the Council can’t increase it. So, this is important. Please see the awesome attached graphic Geneva made to illustrate...

Another quick way to advocate for state funding for schools – now There are two more state hearings coming up, and our legislators need to hear that public school funding is a critical concern. Please consider submitting public comment for both (you can use the same email). April 3rd, 12 p.m. – Hearing on how to allocate the $1.4 million FY24 Millionaire’s surtax surplus. April 8th, 11 a.m. – This is a hearing on the FY26 budget and is designed for the public to attend and testify on any budget related issue, including education. This hearing is in Boston, and you are welcome to attend in person or virtually if you would also like to give public comment that way. What You Can Do: Write an email urging our legislators to support the proposals to reform education funding, including the Rural Aid Bill, an increase to special education circuit breaker, and an increase in transportation reimbursements. Push them to change the charter funding model. Let them know how...

Amherst council decision forces regional school district back to drawing board on next year’s budget Amherst council decision forces regional school district back to drawing board on next year’s budget https://www.gazettenet.com/Amherst-Town-Council-rejects-assessment-adjustment-for-regional-schools-budget-possibly-sending-spending-plan-back-to-committee-60237758

CRITICAL ACTION – Show up for our schools Monday 3/24 @ 6pm Monday’s Town Council Meeting is a critical time to show up for our schools! SOS Amherst is rallying on Monday at 6:00 pm at Town Hall – and heading to the Town Council meeting immediately after – Join us!    Rally Monday March 24th @ 6pm in front of Town Hall – We will make noise and greet Town Councilors as they enter the building for the Town Council Meeting (see attached flyer) Town Council Meeting Monday March 24th @ 6:30pm – Join In Person if you can. If not, join via Zoom. Can’t do that? Send written comment.  Both the Amherst (Elementary) and the Regional (ARMS & ARHS) School Committees will be asking for more funds from the Town of Amherst than Amherst would like to allocate. The Regional School Committee has voted a budget that restores $470,958 and 7-8 positions (it still eliminates 11-12 positions and $812,126)....

Order your SOS Amherst Yard Sign here.

Middle School Roof Crisis! Read & sign the petition here (by Friday March 21). More info is here: https://www.arpsparents.com/arms-roof-crisis/ Petición Crisis del Techo Escuela Secundaria aquí. ARMS student petition is here!

On 3/11/25 the Regional School committee rejected the initial budget with $1,391,998 in deficits, asking Dr. Xi to instead bring them a budget with a $997,000 deficit. This budget would restore the two Counselor positions at ARHS and four out of five of the ARMS teacher positions. It would keep the team model intact at ARMS. Video here.  The Regional School Committee will meet again on Friday March 14th at 5:30 to take a vote on this budget. From there, the budget goes to all four towns and I believe that all four towns must approve of the budget in order for it to be approved.  Most of the discussion centered around what each Town was willing to pay, with Leverett having just said yesterday that the most they were able to go up was 6.5% over their FY25 amount. The Region’s situation is so complicated because rather than use the method of dividing up the responsibility based on the way the state dictates, the four Towns that make up the Region, have for many years used an alternate...

“We can’t just stand here and ring our hands because we have a state funding crisis. We need to do what we can do.” – Town Councilor Ana Devlin Gauthier, 3/10/25 Town Council Mtg.    Two actions you can take today!  1. Email Councilor Devlin Gauthier (devlingauthiera@amherstma.gov) to thank her for her support (details below) 2. Email Council President Lynn Griesemer (griesemerl@amherstma.gov) to ask that a disussion and revision of the FY26 Budget Guidelines be placed on the agenda for the next Town Council meeting (more details below) Meeting Summary (action items in bold): Full Recording available here. Lots of great public comments in support of school funding Town Council is finally acknowleding that there are major structural funding problems facing the schools – and that it is not just an issue of some sort of waste or mismanagement in Amherst Councilor Ana Devlin Gauthier is asking for more money for the schools,...

We are just regular parents, juggling kids and jobs, trying to work together to get our kids what they deserve.  What has SOS Amherst been up to? – The answer is A LOT, and we need your help. See something you want to get more active in helping with – just say the word! Have an idea not on this list – throw it out to the group – all ideas welcome!  Getting the word out in the press. See articles in Indy and Amherst College Student, with more press coverage in the works. More op-eds from concerned families would be good – would you like to write one? Collaborate on one?  Working on a strategy for State-level Advocacy – Ellen Boucher is taking the lead on this and we will have action items for the group shortly Exploring ways to effect electoral change in Amherst in November – a small group of us are discussing options, exploring pros/cons to starting a PAC, and starting to think ahead to how we change our Town Council to...

Upcoming Opportunities to advocate for school funding to the TOWN: Monday March 10th, 6:30 – Town Council Meeting – In-person, or via Zoom. Agenda and Zoom link can be found here.  Friday March 14th, 8:00-9:30 am – Cuppa’ Joe with Town Manager Paul Bockelman and Public Health Director Kiko Malin – Futura Coffee Roasters – we need to start showing up at these meetings to bring up the situation our schools are in, and to counter the narrative that a lot of community members have about our schools (overspending, wasting money, etc…) Sunday March 16th, 3-5 pm – District 1 Meeting, North Amherst Library (in-person only). Agenda here. Find your district here.  Monday March 24th, 6:30 pm – Town Council Meeting – Agenda and Zoom link not yet available Monday April 7th, 6:30 pm – Town Council Meeting – This will probably be the first Town Council Meeting after BOTH school districts...

There are several bills proposed to the Massachusetts legislature that have the potential to bring hundreds of thousands of dollars into our schools budget this year. This funding won’t alleviate our current school budget shortfall, but it could make an important difference, saving needed programs and positions.  The reason this funding is available is that there’s a $1.4 billion surplus from the Fair Share Act (aka the Millionaire’s Tax). This funding can only go toward education and transportation. We need to push our state legislators to direct that surplus to the 232 school districts classified in the “hold harmless” status, which includes ARPS. The Superintendent’s Office and the School Committees are already working to advocate for these legislative initiatives. But it’s really important that our state reps hear from us. This funding is not a sure thing, and we need a strong show of support to push our legislators to move it forward. HERE’S...

Will it take an injury to get the middle school roof fixed? These photos were taken by a 13 year old kid at Amherst Regional Middle School on Tuesday, February 25th, 2025.

Do Something! Here is how to take Action What’s next?  We need the School Committees to reject at least some of these reductions and vote budgets higher than the amount that the Town of Amherst has indicated it would support. They did this last year for the Regional Schools – and hopefully they will do it again. It’s a move that will not be popular with Town Council and so we need to apply public pressure so they know that the community wants them to take this vote. Our time frame to do this is between now and 3/11 for the Region and 3/18 for the Elementary Schools. The School Committees will hold Public Forums on the Budgets Regional – Wednesday 2/26 @ 6:30 PM – link to middle and high school budget presentation.   Elementary -Thursday 2/27 @ 6:30 PM) in the ARHS Library  link to elementary schools budget presentation. On March 18, the Amherst School Committee will vote on the Elementary School Budget On March 11, the Regional School Committee...

The budgets are out: The Elementary Schools budget contains $1,561,314 worth of reductions and impacts the following positions: (Budget Book Part 1, Budget Book Part 2) Three Special Education Teacher positions (one at each of Crocker Farm, Fort River and Wildwood) eliminated One Special Education Reading Teacher position eliminated One Building Blocks/AIMS Teacher position eliminated One Crocker Farm Kindergarten Teacher position eliminated  One Wildwood General Education Teacher position eliminated One Caminantes Paraeducator position eliminated One ELL Paraeducator position eliminated One Crocker Farm Kindergarten Paraeducator position eliminated All specials/band/orchestra teachers reduced from full time to .9 3.4 Central Office positions reduced/eliminated The Regional Schools budget contains $1,391,998 worth of reductions and impacts the following positions: (Budget Book Part 1, Budget Book Part 2) Five Middle School Teacher positions eliminated Removal of Curriculum and Summer...

Lots to catch up on and pay attention to this month Budget deficits remain in the $1-1.5 million range (down from $2 because health insurance has been negotiated down from the 19.9% increase reported). This is over 1 million each for the elementary schools and the regional schools budgets. Next Town Council Meeting – Monday 2/24 6:30 PM – this is another opportunity to push the Town Council to consider additional funding for our schools. Tentative Dates for School Budget Hearings – this will be a time to advocate for the needs of our children & schools and ask School Committee to not just accept the limited increase the Town would like to give. The School Committee is working on possibly making these a hybrid format. Amherst (Elementary) Budget Hearing – Tuesday 2/25, 6:30 ARHS Library  Regional Schools Budget Hearing – Wednesday 2/26, 6:30 ARHS Library  SOS Amherst is planning an in-person meetup/teach in – please take our...

Amherst families try to correct combative narrative around school funding This weekend, Amherst District 3 Councilor and newly elected Council Vice President George Ryansent an update on the Regional Schools budget to constituents on his mailing list. The full text of hisstatement is included below. Unfortunately, Councilor Ryan’s update contains a number of inaccuracies, as well as statements that demonstrate a lack of understanding of the challenges facing our Regional Schools.It is crucial that we do not circulate incorrect information that creates division in our community. Tothat end, we hope the following clarifications will illuminate realities that were misrepresented inCouncilman Ryan’s update. Claim #1: Ryan states that the Town Council “doesn’t understand” why spending for the RegionalSchools is increasing faster than the town’s revenue, “especially given the significant long-termreduction in the number of students we teach”. Fact: There is no mystery as to why education...

Actions you can take Ongoing Action Item – Tell Town Council that our schools matter to you, that they are currently NOT sufficiently funded and that another year of cuts will be devastating. Contrary to the narrative that is often coming from the Town Council, our school budget cuts and elimination of staff positions have actually been outpacing the decline in student enrollment. Put simply, we are shrinking our budgets and staff faster than our schools are shrinking.  Upcoming Amherst town meetings with Public Comment where you can make your voice heard:  Town Council: Monday February 10, 6:30 PM, Town Hall or via Zoom Town Council: Monday February 24, 6:30 PM, Town Hall or via Zoom Finance Committee: Tuesday February 4, 2-4 PM, via Zoom (https://www.amherstma.gov/Calendar.aspx?EID=29480&month=2&year=2025&day=4&calType=0) Budget Coordinating Group, Wednesday February 5, 12-2PM via Zoom (https://www.amherstma.gov/Calendar.aspx?EID=29485&month=2&year=2025&day=5&calType=0) Send...

Recap of 1/28 school committee meeting Amherst School Committee/Regional School Committee Meeting 1/28 – You can watch the recording here. Public Comment – A number of commenters spoke in support of Dr. Xi and the work she is doing, including staff representing the LGBTQIA+ Caucus and the Black Caucus.  Presentation on Strategic Planning – The School Committees heard a presentation from Dr. Allison Layland on the work she is beginning in strategic planning with the districts. You can view her slide deck here.  Discussion of a draft letter to Amherst Town Council on school funding – The Regional School Committee’s Fiscal Sustainability Subcommittee put together a letter to Amherst Town Council in response to the Budget Guidelines for FY26 that Amherst Town Council has approved. The School Committee began but did not finish discussing this letter and will continue at the next meeting. It’s...

This is who is voting on budgets Recap of this week –Town Council Meeting 1/27 – You can watch the recording here. Finance Committee: Council President Lynn Greisemer appointed Councilors: Mandi Jo Hanneke, Robert Hegner, Cathy Schoen, Andrew Steinberg, Ellisha Walker (these are the same Councilors as the prior term). You can see more details here in terms of who requested which committee. Joint Capital Planning Committee – this is the committee that advises the Town Manager on the creation of the annual Capital Improvement Plan, via which capital funds are dispersed for ongoing repairs/equipment/smaller projects in town, including at the elementary schools. Councilors are voted onto this Committee by the entire Council. Councilors who were selected were: Robert Hegner, Cathy Schoen and Heather Hala Lord. Discussions in this committee will be important, especially this year, because the town is poised to restrict these funds in order to pay for the four large capital...

Amherst Elementary Schools budget to cut over 10 positions At last night’s Amherst School Committee meeting (video here), Dr. Xi and Interim Finance Director Shannon Bernacchia presented a budget update (attached) for the Amherst (elementary) Schools for next year. The elementary budget is currently $1,478,143 over budget for next year. This will likely necessitate the elimination of 8-9 teachers, 1 clerical position and 4 paraeducators at the elementary schools, as well as five positions at the Central Office (see page 4 of the attached presentation). Dr. Xi and her team have been working with the principals to identify specific positions that would be eliminated.   The Amherst School Committee will hold their annual budget hearing on Tuesday February 25th at 6:30 PM in the ARMS library. Dr. Xi has indicated that she will release a draft budget in advance of that so that community members have time to review before the budget hearing. This budget hearing is the main opportunity...

Still facing massive cuts — more than 50 staff may be lost Updates:  At the 1/14/25 Regional School Committee Meeting (watch here), Dr. Xi and her team provided a budget update for the Regional Schools (middle and high school). The exact deficit amount isn’t yet known as the four towns that fund the Regional Schools are still determining funding for next year, but the deficit is likely between $1-1.4 million. Preliminarily this translates to eliminating 11 positions at the high school ( 4 professional, 4 clerical, 3 paraprofessionals), 8 positions at the middle school (4 professional, 1 clerical, 3 paraprofessionals), and 5 positions at the central office (see Page 16 of the presentation for details). See the coverage in the Hampshire Gazette here.  We haven’t seen an update on the elementary school budget deficit, but last we heard it was approximately $1.4 million, so likely in the range of 25-30 positions.  School Committee Member Bridget Hynes very aptly referred...

Check out Superintendent Xi’s presentation! 12/17/24 joint school committee meeting: The meeting between the Amherst School Committee and the Regional School Committee was packed with discussion and information and is really worth watching. Dr. Xi presented her entry plan findings, detailing some of the challenges she found in the district and some initial recommendations. Other important topics were also discussed, including the budget for the elementary schools. Video available here – try watching at 1.5x speed to save yourself some time! Time stamps are below for specific topics. Regional Schools Four Towns Meeting Recap: Discussion of the timeline of when towns can reasonably predict their revenue for the next year and therefore when the school districts can negotiate for that money. Frustration at how the Town of Amherst breakout session went with the Amherst Town Council President running that conversation.  Dr. Xi’s Entry Presentation (Time Stamp 1:01:00): Dr....

There is still a $2.4 million+ school funding gap for next year 12/16/24 Town Council Meeting: Video recording is here. Town Council approved the FY26 Financial Guidelines which give the schools a 3% increase over the FY25 numbers and does not include the total amount the Region received last year in the base for FY26. These financial guidelines leave large deficits at both the elementary ($1,478,143) and regional schools (approx. $1M). The guidelines do say that as soon as other revenue is available, the full amount for the region should be included in the base, so that is at least progress. In terms of the surplus, Councilor Ryan put forth yet another request for $500,000 for roads and sidewalks, and this has been advanced to the Finance Committee. The remaining unspent $500,000 will remain for now in free cash, and in theory is available for request if Dr. Xi makes one. 

Your public comment needed tonight (12/16/24) ***TONIGHT*** The final Town Council Meeting of 2024 will be Monday December 16 at 6:30 PM.  Join APEA members to tell Amherst Town Council that our schools are important. Join in-person at Town Hall, via Zoom or Submit a Written Public Comment.  Ask the Town Council to prioritize our schools in the FY26 Financial Guidelines and include the Region’s full amount in the base. Tell them why our schools matter to you. Remind them that the budgets Dr. Xi is asking for are not even level services budgets – they already include significant reductions and will mean deep cuts.

Four Towns Meeting Summary Four Towns Meeting SummaryAt the 12/14 Four Towns Mtg, Dr. Xi presented updated budget projections for the 2025-2026 school year for the Regional Schools. With the new updates, the projected deficit has decreased but still stands at approximately $1 million. Dr. Xi and School Committee members did a great job of advocating for our schools to town officials from Amherst, Pelham, Shutesbury and Leverett. If you have a moment, consider sending them a note of thanks (RegionalSchoolCommittee@arps.org, hermanx@arps.org).  Some key points:  Dr. Xi is already planning for 2025-2026 and really needs to know soon how much money she can count on. Amherst’s timeline of updating information in the spring doesn’t help. Nor does conservative budgeting that generates an end of year surplus instead of prioritizing operating budgets now.  Dr. Xi and her team have already found $900,000 in savings in the budget, and have done exactly what towns have asked of them,...

12/14, 12/16 & 12/17 – Add our schools to your holiday to do list Upcoming events & Action Items: Attend Dr. Xi’s Listening Lounge on Friday 12/13 at 4:30 and/or submit a question for the Listening Lounge. This could be a good opportunity to express concern about the state of our facilities and/or encourage Dr. Xi to request part of the Town of Amherst’s surplus for the schools or ask what the status is of this. UPDATE: At the Listening Lounge Dr. Xi confirmed she will be asking for some surplus funds. Four Towns Meeting 12/14 9:00 AM in the ARMS Library: Representatives from Amherst, Pelham, Shutesbury and Leverett will meet to discuss funding for the Regional Schools. There is no public comment at this meeting, but members of the public are welcome to attend – and it’s always good to let our public officials know we are paying attention and that our kids at ARMS & ARHS are still Amherst residents who deserve great schools.  The...

We’re waiting for the Superintendent & Town Manager, and 12/16 Where do things stand?  The Amherst Finance Committee is still working on finalizing the  FY26 Financial Guidelines, and will discuss again Tuesday 12/10 3-5PM.  As of right now, the Financial Guidelines do not include the $355,400 that the Regional Schools received last year in their base for calculating this year’s 3% increase. Instead, the guidelines instruct the Town Manager to prioritize inclusion of this increase if there is adequate money once revenue and expense projections are better known in January and into the spring. So, this is progress but the money is not yet a given. The guidelines currently give each of Amherst’s functional areas (Municipal, Elementary Schools, Regional Schools, Library) a 3% increase over last year. Unfortunately, this amount will still result in significant budget deficits at the schools. In Finance Committee, some Town Councilors have been asking some really good...

School District will request capital funds from Amherst but this money won’t help close operating budget deficit At the 11/19/24 Amherst School Committee Meeting, School Committee Members and Dr. Xi discussed the need to put together a request for approximately $500,000, or half of the amount of the surplus that the Town Council held off on appropriating for roads and sidewalks on 11/18. Since the Town Council is likely to limit the use of the funds to capital requests, rather than recurring expenditures such as salaries, the proposal from the school districts will focus on that. Dr. Xi emphasized that while she intends to put together a proposal, the most helpful thing that the Town Council can do right now for the Regional Schools would be to include the additional $355,440 given to the Region last year in the base when making this year’s calculation. This, and not capital money, will help with offsetting the predicted deficit in operating costs...

Thanks so much to everyone who advocated for our public schools last night, in-person, via Zoom and by submitting written comments. Thirty people spoke at the budget hearing last night (in person and on zoom) and of those, twenty-nine spoke in support of prioritizing our public schools. It seems like the message about prioritizing the schools is starting to get through, but there are still obstacles as well as resistance.    The most important takeaway from last night is that the Town Council voted to hold off on appropriating $1 million of the surplus to roads and sidewalks in order to give the schools time to make a request for some of this money for capital needs. Below is a more detailed summary as well as some observations. The recording is available (Start at 1:30:00). The next important date will be the 12/2 6:30 PM Town Council Meeting – Between now and then we will get more information about whether the Town Council is...

The needle is starting to move on how the Amherst Town Council and Finance Committee is talking about school funding, which is great! The Finance Committee spent a good deal of the last meeting talking about school funding and debating whether it is possible to appropriate more money to the schools and change the way budgeting is done in the future.  This does not mean that more money will come to the schools, or even that some of the surplus will come to the schools, but it has become part of the conversation which is encouraging.  At Tuesday’s Regional School Committee meeting, there was an interesting discussion among School Committee Members about the budget and the Town of Amherst’s surplus and proposed allocations. The Regional School Committee intends to ask for a portion of the surplus although it’s unclear whether their proposal will come in time, given that the Town Council seems poised to appropriate most of it on Monday 11/18/24. This is why we should push...

Link to recording – 1:55:00 time stamp for discussion on FY26 budget planning and surplus allocation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHW0I02sZQU   At the meeting, Regional School Committee Members made the following observations:  Amherst had $5 million remaining in free cash at the end of the year after obligations and most of it is going to the capital stabilization fund. As in the previous several years, $1 million is going to roads and sidewalks. This is in addition to the 10.5% of property taxes that go into the cash capital fund. It is not clear that any of this money goes to the Regional Schools.  The large surplus seems to be the result of conservative management practices for the last three or four years, and of both overestimating expenditures and underestimating revenue. This year a large portion of the surplus seems to be derived from underestimating investment interest income on money sitting in various accounts. This conservative budgeting practice squeezes the Region...

11/8 Finance Committee Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbiWf08TEqE   The Finance Committee decided to postpone a vote on the surplus appropriations until their next meeting (next Friday 11/15 at 10:00 AM) because they first want to discuss the budget guidelines for FY26 and get some more information. If you can, watch the last 20 minutes of the meeting, starting at the 1:56:00 time stamp (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbiWf08TEqE), but here are my main takeaways.  There is no ongoing process for the Regional Schools to get money for capital needs and the Amherst Finance Committee seems unwilling to put any additional money into the Regional Schools unless it is proportionally matched by Shutesbury, Leverett and Pelham. We need to push them to find a solution to this complication because simply throwing up their hands can’t be the answer.  There is no process by which the Elementary Schools or Library would have been able to advocate...

We have a time-sensitive opportunity for you to advocate for school funding, Friday November 8th, 9:00 AM at the Amherst Finance Committee Meeting. You can join by Zoom and make a public comment at the beginning of the meeting or send public comment via email, as below. The meeting was only announced on November 5th.  The Finance Committee will be discussing how to spend the town’s FY24 available surplus which is $5,277,426. As leftover free cash, this money can’t really be used for operating expenses, such as to pay teacher salaries, but it can be used for one-time or capital expenditures. The Town Manager’s current proposal currently allocates all of it to the Town’s capital projects savings account as well as to Department of Public Works functions such as roads and sidewalks, equipment, etc…You can see the full breakdown here.  HOW TO TAKE ACTION: Attend the virtual Finance Committee meeting tomorrow, November 8th, 9:00 AM. Zoom link: https://amherstma.zoom.us/j/85166756344 OR...

Yes, thanks to deep investigation by an SOS Amherst parent we now know the following: “In the FY24 budget, the projections slightly underestimated revenue, leading to a roughly 5.9% surplus in the Town budget (roughly $5.75 million). These monies came from various sources, including investment interest, underspending on staffing due to vacancy, and construction bids coming in under the expected amount.” Town Council and Budget Coordinating Group Hears Budget Indicators  

Video Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkIQCAGU3lQ&t=15421s Financial Indicators Presentation: https://www.amherstma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/75345/FY26-Financial-Indicators-Projection-Presentation-1142024-FINAL-2   SOS Amherst Summary of the Meeting:   On 11/4, the Amherst Town Council, Amherst Finance Committee, Regional School Committee, Amherst School Committee and Library representatives met to view a presentation regarding the financial status of the town, and how it will impact next year’s budget.  The Town Manager’s initial projection for the Regional Schools does not include the total amount allotted in FY25 as the base for calculating the increase for FY26. It omits the additional $355,400. Based on his assessment of the town’s finances, the Town Manager is proposing a 3% increase in FY26 for all sectors of the town (municipal services, schools, library). Without the $355,440 included in the base for the Regional Schools, and with a 3% increase, the Regional Schools...

10/22/24 Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools Committee Meeting   Amherst Superintendent Dr. Xi said that the towns have indicated that the additional $355,440 allocated to the region for FY25 is likely to be included in the base for FY26’s calculations which is good news. This will by no means close the budget gap but it will certainly help.    Dr. Xi said that contrary to earlier discussions, the 6th grade move to the middle school will take place in Fall 2026 as originally planned. Dr. Xi and her staff are examining multiple scenarios for closing the FY26 budget gap, including but not limited to the possible merging of the middle and high school in one building.    She is also working with the town of Amherst to formalize agreements with respect to use of the buildings, particularly the middle school, and to negotiate new financial arrangements for these agreements. For example, the Recreation Department uses the middle school extensively and the district would like to have a more formal...

10/22/24 Amherst District 5 Meeting Thanks to all of you who attended and spoke in support of the schools’ budgets. Parents spoke about their concerns about the schools, the changes they have seen over the years, anecdotal information about friends and neighbors who have chosen to leave our schools, and also highlighted concerns about special education programs and pushed back on the narrative that our special education programs are too expensive. We also asked questions about whether schools are being held to tighter and unrealistic financial constraints than other municipal departments.   Councilors Bob Hegner, Ana Devlin Gauthier and Andy Steinberg listened but largely stuck with the narrative that there is simply not enough money in Amherst to go around and that parents should really be advocating on a state level for funding equity. And while state advocacy is also needed, applying pressure at the town level remains important. Town Councilors can play an important role in supporting...

10/15/24 Amherst School Committee Meeting: Amherst Elementary Schools facing a $1,413,694 deficit for FY26 due to loss of ESSR funds, increasing employee health insurance costs (up 13%) and increasing transportation costs. There is no information yet on where the cuts would come from. On 11/4 the Town of Amherst will tell the district what % increase in funding to expect for FY26. After this, Dr. Xi will use updated numbers to look at possible reductions.  View the meeting recording here. View the presentation here. 

9/28 Four Towns Meeting: Dr. Xi indicated that one option she is looking at for reducing the budget is combining grades 7-12 in the current high school building. Town and school officials again discussed whether they would make the $355,440 part of the base for FY26, and why costs are outpacing funding. View the presentation with projected revenue and expenses.

Amherst Town Council and the Town Manager indicated that they do not want to see the extra 2% ($355,440) increase the Regional Schools received last year included in their base for this year. Dr. Xi and the Regional School Committee would like to see the base included, so that the percentage increase for FY26 will be determined by a larger base number.

Link to Minutes