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Parents and students rallied outside Amherst Town Hall in advance of the Town Council meeting to call attention to the need for more financial support for the elementary and regional schools. -
Parents and students rallied outside Amherst Town Hall in advance of the Town Council meeting Monday to call attention to the need for more financial support for the elementary and regional schools.
AMHERST — It’s back to the drawing board for the Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools’ proposed budget for next year, after the Town Council on Monday rejected changing the way assessments are determined for each of the district’s four member towns.
With some councilors citing concerns that Amherst taxpayers would absorb an unfair share of the Regional School Committee’s proposed $37.08 million fiscal 2026 spending plan, the council voted 9-4 to stick to the Regional School District Agreement formula for calculating each town’s contribution rather than using a modified method that would have Amherst join Shutesbury, Leverett and Pelham with consistent 6.5% assessment increases.
“I think the regional school assessment is a good agreement, and it is the agreement between the four towns,” said District 1 Councilor Cathy Schoen, who voted in favor of not diverging from the four-town agreement. “I think rejecting the proposed shift and asking the Regional School Committee to come back to us is the appropriate thing to do.”
Joining Schoen in favor of maintaining the assessment method were District 5 Councilor Bob Hegner, District 4 Councilor Pam Rooney, District 3 Councilor George Ryan, District 2 Councilors Pat De Angelis and Lynn Griesemer, District 1 Councilor Ndifreke Ette and At Large Councilors Mandi Jo Hanneke and Andy Steinberg.
Voting for the revised assessment method were District 5 Councilor Ana Devin Gauthier, District 4 Councilor Jennifer Taub, District 3 Councilor Heather Hala Lord and At Large Councilor Ellisha Walker.
Had the revision been approved, Amherst’s assessment would have climbed to $20.06 million, or $1.22 million more than the current year. With the revision now rejected, the town’s assessment using the existing agreement would be $19.74 million, or a 4.8% increase of $905,670.
The decision almost certainly sends the budget back to the Regional School Committee for revisions, as it will need to find a different way of divvying up the spending. Otherwise, Pelham’s assessment would go up nearly 23%, Leverett’s would rise by around 14% and Shutesbury’s would increase by 7.7%.
Regional School Committee Chair Sarahbess Kenney said it’s “back to square one” after the committee had looked at several budget scenarios brought forward by Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman and interim Finance Director Shannon Bernacchia.
“We went with the one that we felt served our children to the best our ability, that also had the best potential of being passed by the four towns,” said Kenney, who represents Pelham. “So we’re doing the best for our kids, with the information we were provided, while still making large and unfortunate cuts that are not in the best interest of our kids.”
Councilors were acting on a memo from Town Manager Paul Bockelman, who told them Amherst is subsidizing the other three towns by paying more than it is obligated to. A larger increase, he said, would have a dramatic impact on town and library services and the elementary schools, the other components of the municipal budget.
“If this assessment method is adopted, it really just makes it very, very difficult for me to give you a balanced budget for the entire town,” Bockelman said.
Bockelman said the 4.81% increase, though, is probably doable.
Hanneke said staying with the agreement method would mean around $320,000 more for other Amherst needs.
“If we do not reject the modification, (that) directly reduces the property taxes in Pelham, Leverett and Shutesbury on the backs of Amherst taxpayers,” Hanneke said.
Devlin Gauthier objected to making a decision regarding the Regional Schools budget before the Amherst School Committee making its budget recommendation for the elementary schools. She noted there is no way the higher regional budget would stand without Amherst’s support, noting the huge increase for Pelham.
“A 23% budget increase? I don’t see a world where that happens,” she said. “It’s not like they don’t have elementary schools that also need funding.”
Lord said she knows there are tensions pertaining to the formula but wishes this had been discussed more thoroughly at four-towns meetings.