- This event has passed.
Amherst Town Council meeting – with state reps & public comment (in person and virtual)
SOS Amherst invites you to the Amherst Town Council meeting on Monday, February 2nd at 6:30 PM to advocate for our schools during public comment.
The situation is urgent:
ARPS is facing a $4-5 million budget shortfall—close to 3 times worse than last year. This could mean the loss of dozens of teacher and staff positions. This level of deficit translates to a significant loss of services. There are several reasons for this gap that you can read about here.
This issue is about priorities. The town routinely carries a $4-6 million surplus while our schools continually face gaps in funding. Over the past decade, we’ve seen a reduction in town budget from 52% to 47% towards the schools. As a town, we have resources—we just need to renew education as a priority for our leaders. Representative Mindy Domb and Senator Jo Comerford will also be in attendance at the meeting on Monday, so we have the chance to share our urgency with our state leaders, too.
Please attend on February 2nd at 6:30 PM at Town Hall (or on Zoom: https://amherstma.zoom.us/j/
Also, consider signing up to be a “point caregiver” for your child’s school or classroom to help get the word out quickly on upcoming advocacy alerts. Listservs are fine, but talking to fellow caregivers at birthday parties, sports games, and at pick up is even better!
Our children deserve fully staffed classrooms and the programs that help them thrive.
Hope to see you there,
SOS Amherst
Note: Members of the public may attend virtually via Zoom, by phone by calling phone (301)
715-8592, enter webinar ID: 814 9433 7916, or in person. The meeting will also be live
broadcast on Amherst Media channel 17 and https://amherstmedia.org/live-stream
Agenda: https://amherstma.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/18743
Meeting Materials: https://amherstma.gov/DocumentCenter/Index/8154