Regional School Committee Hearing (Advocacy opportunity in person)

This is the meeting at which members of the community can react to proposed budget cuts for next year and advocate for the budget!

The draft budget is available here. The draft budget closes a $1.1 million dollar gap through a combination of moving positions to revolving funds, applying more in reserves, and changing and eliminating some positions. In the end it looks like a net loss of approximately 8 full time equivalent positions. Pages 28-35 of the budget provide details on all of this. Please read through the proposed changes ahead of Thursday’s budget hearing and then speak up at the hearing.

The Regional budget is complicated. Amherst has recently said that it can increase slightly the amount it can give (from a 3.5% increase to a 3.85% increase over last year’s contribution) but the full Regional Budget is determined by all four towns and must be shared proportionally based on the Regional Agreement. So, Amherst alone being willing to increase doesn’t mean that the other towns are willing/able to do so. Thus far the only budget being considered is the one linked above with approximately a million dollars in cuts. It is still important though, for people to speak up and advocate for what concerns them most. If we don’t speak up we don’t convey that these cuts hurt our schools, our kids and our community. We need families from ALL FOUR TOWNS to speak up for the Regional Schools.

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