The meeting was held on Zoom and recorded. The recording can be viewed here.
the current
Bob Hegner (District 5 Chair), Kathy Schon (District 1), Mandy Jo Haneke (At-Large), Andy Steinberg (At-Large). Ellisha Walker (General) joined the meeting at 2:27 Absent: Bernie Kubiak (non-voting member), Matt Holloway (non-voting member).
Staff: Athena O'Keefe (City Council Clerk), Holly Drake (Auditor), Sarah Marshall (Amherst School Committee Chair)
Five members of the public attended via Zoom, including Jennifer Hsiao (Amherst representative on the Regional School Committee) and Debra Leonard (Amherst representative on the Regional School Committee). City Council Clerk Athena O'Keefe said that with Sarah Marshall's presence, the three of them constituted a quorum for the Amherst School Committee, and that neither Hsiao nor Leonard were formally present at the meeting because gathering without notice is a violation of public meetings. It was recommended that they not be allowed to participate. Law. However, individuals were allowed to speak during public comments.
Mr O'Keefe confirmed that the quorum for the Finance Committee is determined by the number of voting members present, so there will be three voting members.
school budget
The focus of the meeting was the local school budget, which was referred to the Finance Committee at the April 1 Town Council meeting. The budget approved by the School Committee on March 13 exceeded budget guidelines set by the town manager by more than $1 million. . (See the full RSC-approved budget here.) The larger budget will allow the district to avoid cutting 14 student-facing positions (educators and advisors) and significantly reduce middle school world language programs. You can also avoid that, but it's still $750,000. There is a shortage of equalization fund services from FY2013.
Chairman Bob Hegner announced the schedule for the Finance Committee's discussion of the local school budget and vote on recommendations to the Town Council.
- April 16: Complete review of local school budgets.
- April 20th: Four town meetings to discuss school budgets.
- April 25: Local School Budget Public Hearing – 6:30 p.m. This will be followed by a discussion in the Finance Committee and a vote on a recommendation to Town Council. It has not been determined whether the public hearing will be held exclusively via Zoom or in a hybrid format, in-person at City Hall's Town Room.
- April 29: Town council votes on 2025 budget.
“We all share the goal of providing a quality education to every child at Amherst. However, the circumstances in which we seek to achieve this have changed and presented many new challenges. Additional funding alone will not address all of these concerns.” Robert Hegner – Finance Committee Chair
While all committee members prefaced their strong commitment to quality education in Amherst, Mr. Hegner, Mr. Steinberg, and Mr. Haneke expressed concern about the prospect of finding a way to fund the proposed budget. expressed strong doubts. Steinberg and Haneke said it would be impossible to extract the town's reserves, which are currently estimated at about $24 million, because they are needed to support the construction of the fire department and DPW building. he insisted firmly. They said they cannot imagine any other aspect of the town's budget that could be cut by $700,000 to provide the additional funding needed to support the RSC's budget request.
Kathy Schoen said she had similar concerns, but left open the possibility of providing additional funding, although not the additional $700,000 needed to avoid program and critical layoffs. . She wondered what the district could do with her additional $200,000 and asked the School Committee to consider what it could do with that money. Discussions focused on how achieving the school committee's requested budget would undermine the town's other budget priorities, the general lack of discretionary funding in the operating budget, and how the school district The focus was on the failure to plan for the current budget shortfall and that the district did not plan for the current budget shortfall. It does not realistically address the dramatic changes in public education that are impacting schools across the Commonwealth. Board members also emphasized that the issue is not unique to Amherst and expressed resignation to the larger issue of lack of education funding that appears to be plaguing school districts across the country.
Regional School Committee member Jennifer Hsiao encouraged the finance committee to seek solutions rather than just giving up.
However, RSC member Jennifer Hsiao suggested in public comment that the Amherst crisis could be avoided if we choose to do so. She proposed several avenues to address the budget crisis rather than simply accepting further cuts to schools (see below). She acknowledged that some of these options may not be long-term, but it's something the town can try if it can raise the funds to get through next year without further deteriorating the district's education. He emphasized that there are several She encouraged the Finance Committee to seek solutions rather than just giving up.
discussion
“We all share the goal of providing a quality education to every child in Amherst,” Hegner said prior to the committee's discussion. “However, the circumstances in which we seek to achieve this have changed. Additional funding alone will not address all these concerns. We need to think about how we can rebuild our education system. We need to adapt to the current situation.”
Andy Steinberg agreed with Hegner, saying, “We value education in the city of Amherst, no different than any other municipality in that it is by far the largest expense in our budget. But we need to grapple with what our limits are and whether we are at a point where costs outpace revenue increases to the point that school budgets are undermining other necessary spending.''Steinberg He criticized public comments at the town council meeting the night before suggesting cuts to the police budget to make up for the school district's budget shortfall. He argued that the police department is already understaffed and that any budget cuts would eliminate its ability to provide 24/7 police to the town.
Mr. Steinberg proposed inviting Sandy Pooler, a former Amherst city finance director who recently returned as a part-time financial consultant, to the committee to speak to the finance committee about specific options for achieving the proposed RSC budget. did.
Steniberg added: “If we had raised money from a one-time source like a reserve fund, we would likely be in the same situation a year from now. So that option is “It doesn't really seem to be viable. What's the good of postponing difficult decisions for a year?” he asked.
Mandy Jo Hanke said she supports everything Steinberg has said. “If we find $700,000, it's essentially a permanent addition to the base budget. The school is asking for a permanent fix, not a one-year fix, so we're going to get $700,000 every year from now on.” You have to come up with dollars, which is far more than you thought you could afford next year, and funding it from your reserves won't cover the additions each year after that. “No. This request is not sustainable,” she said.
Haneke continued. “The schools are asking for $2.4 million of the $2.9 million available in increases to the town's total operating budget, but that's not possible. It would take a government-wide effort to shift the additional $700,000 to the schools. What cuts do we need to make?'' she asked. “As Andy pointed out, this is a plus for her entire CRESS department.Currently, we barely have a 24/7 public safety system, and if this is reduced, we will have a 24/7 public safety system. It will be impossible to respond.”
Haneke said it appears schools knew this financial crisis was coming and did not plan for it. “I would like to see what the district plans to do over the next four or five years,” she said.
Elisha Walker also said she would like to know what plans are in place for both the Amherst School Committee and the Regional School Committee, but with the fact that half of the school committee and the superintendent have resigned. He said this is becoming difficult. last year. ( (The current interim superintendent, Doug Slaughter, served as the district's finance director last year.) Walker added that this is the first time there has been an allegation that public safety is operating at a skeleton staffing level, and asked for a review of the situation at the police station.
Mr Shane said he wanted to see more data from the RSC before considering the budget itself. She said she would like to see data on staffing trends and enrollment trends. She pointed out that the state's distribution of revenue from the “Millionaires Tax” (Fair Share Amendment) does not provide the support for K-12 education that schools had hoped for. She said, “We need to join other schools hurt by the Student Opportunity Act and work together to secure more state funding for K-12.” The state funding formula includes: There are major flaws and we need to talk about them too. ”
Hegner suggested another option to reduce costs is to have more ARHS students take courses at the university.
public comment
RSC Amherst President Jennifer Hsiao spoke from the audience and addressed Mr. Steinberg. she said: “Andy, did you ask me what you gain by delaying the inevitable?” There's a lot to be gained, for example, a middle school student can complete a year of language study in one more year. And we have a restorative justice coordinator to help address the challenges faced by vulnerable students. No one knows what will happen in a year. State subsidies will probably increase as well. I don't know what will happen this year. This (bigger budget) was originally suggested by us as a one-time gift for her from this year to next. It is not up to the district to decide whether to add this request to the base (budget). That is the town council's decision.
Mr Hsiao went on to challenge the idea that deep cuts to schools are inevitable and set out a list of initiatives the RSC could implement. “I proposed to repeal Proposition 2 1/2 in FY26. My future plans are to form a revenue subcommittee to help the RSC bring in more revenue. We can appeal to the university. We have already done that. We can lobby the state government. We can address all of this once the hiring of a new superintendent is completed. I feel that there is a possibility that we will climb out of this hole in fiscal 2026.”
RSC Amherst Representative Deb Leonard spoke from the audience about her deep concerns about increasing the number of mentorships from 210 to 240, which is close to the recommended maximum, when the need for guidance and support is just as great. He said he is doing so. It's happened before. “The pandemic doesn’t erase the trauma of the pandemic,” she says.
Allegra Clark, a District 2 resident, said she supports the RSC and its efforts to build a budget that doesn't require significant cuts. She emphasized the need to reinstate positions that support students, such as restorative justice coordinators. She said she hopes the town will work with the RSC to ensure the positions of vulnerable staff and educators are restored.
