AMHERST — Three Amherst Regional High School students and a high school English teacher recently testified before the Joint Committee on Ways and Means advocating for better school funding, especially for rural school districts.
At the March 31 hearing at the State House, sophomore Ella Bradbury explained a budget crisis exists because rural schools rely on a small tax base and need the state to provide more funding.
With a projected $1 million deficit in funding for the middle and high schools, Bradbury said a concern is losing teachers, as well as the possibility of her hometown elementary school in Pelham closing.
Rose Collins, a junior, said there is risk of losing both photography and music teachers. “They do not have the job security they deserve,” Collins said.
And course selections are shrinking. “Changes have not been made sufficiently, and our problems as a rural school district have only grown,” Collins said.
Maeve Fitzgerald, also a sophomore, called for increasing rural school aid to $60 million, eliminating a provision that charter schools can get rural funding, and upping minimum aid to $500 per student.
“Right now our schools are at risk of not getting our basic needs met,” Fitzgerald said.
The presentation concluded with teacher Danielle Seltzer observing that she had brought more students to the State House hearing in 2025, but had to cut back due to less field trip money. “Students in rural school districts deserve the same quality of education as students in eastern Mass,” Seltzer said.
Others from the region who testified to the committee included Jessica Corwin, a member of the Sunderland and Frontier Regional school committees, and Martha Thurber, who chairs the Mohawk Trail Regional School Committee and co-chairs the Massachusetts Association of School Committee’s Rural School Committee.
Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, applauded the students for advocating for equitable education. “What you are asking for is what is just and right,” Comerford said.
Lit Walk
Amherst Lit Walk will be a day of author readings, poetry and local history throughout downtown Amherst on Saturday.
The Massachusetts Center for the Book and the Amherst Business Improvement District are partnering with downtown businesses and organizations to celebrate Amherst’s literary community.
The day begins at 11 a.m. with “Dickinson’s Ceaseless Sympathy: A Tour of West Cemetery” hosted by the Amherst Historical Society, with people to meet at 45 Boltwood Walk. They will be guided by Sarah Zureick-Brown, an historical society trustee.
At the same time at UMass Downtown, 108 North Pleasant St., will be “The Marvelous Now” storytime with author Angela DiTerlizzi and family yoga with Angelica Lopez.
Other authors who will be present throughout the day include Margot Livesey, who will read from “The Road from Belhaven,” Jordy Rosenberg, who will read from “Night Night Fawn” and Anna Maria Hong, who will moderate a panel and read selections along with Eula Biss, James Hannaham and John Hennessy.
Go to https://www.massbook.org/amherst-lit-walk for the full schedule of events.
Also taking place Saturday is the Global Village Festival, which will be held at the Amherst Regional High School from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Purple Heart
Town Council recently designated Amherst as a Purple Heart Community. With the proclamation, four signs will be installed in the public way at entrances to the town.
The designation recognizes the Purple Heart Medal, the nation’s oldest military decoration still awarded, and the only military decoration awarded exclusively to members of the U.S. Armed Forces who are wounded or killed in combat.
Amherst joins several other area communities with the designation.
Smoking cessation
A University of Massachusetts public health researcher finds that nicotine e-cigarettes consistently help adults quit smoking.
This “review of reviews,” published in “Addiction,” examined 14 systematic reviews covering 109 primary studies conducted between 2014 and 2023.
The review found that nicotine e-cigarettes are associated with quit rates about 20% to 40% higher than traditional nicotine replacement therapies, like patches or gum, for smoking cessation lasting at least six months. Compared with non-nicotine e-cigarettes or placebo devices, nicotine e-cigarettes performed even better, with quit rates at least 46% higher.
Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, assistant professor of health policy and management in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, said the work was to see if scientists agree that nicotine e-cigarettes help people quit smoking
“Based on the consistency of the findings here, it’s clear that they do,” Hartmann-Boyce said, though she cautions that this doesn’t necessarily mean e-cigarettes are the best option to quit smoking, or that they will work for everyone.
Dog license renewals
Dog owners must obtain or renew their dog licenses through the town clerk’s office, with all current licenses having expired on March 31.
All dogs six months or older must be licensed and wear a tag, and current rabies certificates for all dogs must be presented at the time of licensing.
The last day to license a dog without incurring a $30 late fee is May 31.
Meetings
MONDAY: Regional Budget and Audit Subcommittee, 4 p.m.
TUESDAY: Historical Commission, 7 p.m.
