BELCHERTOWN — The School Committee is pushing back against a potential $2.1 million cut to its proposed $36 million level-services school budget that would result in the loss of more than 20 positions, a blow to the schools after the committee’s proposed budgets have been cut $4 million in the past five years.

Since 2019, when Brian Cameron came on as superintendent, the school department has reduced or cut 30 positions throughout the district, including teachers, administrators, support staff and food service staff. Last year alone, the town reduced the School Committee’s level-services budget by $1.2 million, resulting in the loss of 10 teachers, four paraeducators, one central office clerk and one paraprofessional. Other positions not eliminated were reduced to part time.

“The schools have been cutting and cutting and cutting,” Cameron said. “We don’t have the fluff, (so) you’re going to start to go into the muscle, and if we do that, we’re going to lose more educators, more students.”

At a joint meeting Thursday of the Finance Committee, Select Board and School Committee met Thursday to discuss Belchertown’s preliminary budget for fiscal year 2026, municipal leaders agreed that Belchertown continually struggles to generate enough revenue to support a level-services budget each year. When School Committee members asked about how to prevent further budget cuts, other committees said there’s no quick fix.

“At this time, this is your new number,” Finance Committee Chair Laurie Shea said. “There’s nothing that anyone can do other than to say that with the information that we have right now, from everything we have to pull from, whether it be on our taxes, our new growth, what the state’s going to offer us, the governor’s budget and whatever, this is your new number.”

Both Shea and Select Board Member Lesa Lessard Pearson rejected the suggestion of a Proposition 2½ general budget override to offset revenue, saying that using a property tax increase to support the operational budget is fiscally unsustainable.

“If the 2½ override solved the problem, then I’d be interested in hearing more about it,” Pearson said. “But it would not solve the problem. We’d be right back where we are 12 months from now.”

However, School Committee Chair Heidi Gutekenst pointed out that $14 million of the town’s allocated $18 million in state aid comes from Chapter 70 funds for public education. Any more cuts to the district that would impact the quality of education in Belchertown will result in the loss of students, lowering state aid money for the entire town.

“With these cuts, my fear is we’re going to lose more students,” School Committee Vice Chair Ruby Bansal said. “We’re not going to gain the school choice students, and that’s going to be a net negative to the budget as it is.”

Residents protest cuts

Five residents spoke out against the potential school budget cuts, including parents and teachers. Peter Weller, Melanie Donovan and Jessica Letzeisen all said they chose to live in Belchertown because of the schools, and cuts to the budget will only deter new families from moving into town.

“If we don’t entice new folks to move here as our aging population leaves us and it’s not replaced, our main source of revenue will also go down,” Donovan said. “We have an opportunity with a potential new nearby train stop for new folks to move here. But will young families pick Belchertown when they compare our district to Ludlow, Amherst, (and) Hadley?”

Donovan said Belchertown offers teachers some of the lowest compensation in the state. Weller said he and his wife would take a pay cut if they taught in the district. The school department spends roughly $17,000 per student, which is lower than 91% of districts in the state.

“Our teachers are already stretched thin, doing more with less. They routinely work beyond contracted hours, grading, planning and providing extra support without compensation,” Weller said.

Letzeisen, a teacher at Belchertown High School, added that the school is currently the town’s largest business, but it’s failing. Teachers have little job security, open positions remain unfilled due to low wages, and the district continues to lose students to charter schools, private schools and home schooling. Most of the teaching and cleaning supplies are paid for by the PTO.

“I’ve been a resident of Belchertown for over 32 years, and a town employee for at least 28 of those years,” Maria Scudere said. “I’ve watched the town board struggle with budgeting issues for at least the past decade, not because of its management, not because of lack of effort, but simply because expenses have outpaced revenues.”

The School Committee’s request for a level budget was nearly $36 million, while the level-services budget for the rest of the town is pegged at $13.8 million. In that scenario, the town budget would need to be cut about $400,000. Gov. Maura Healey’s budget increased state aid to Belchertown by $931,052, which is split between the school department and town budget, 70% to 30%.

What is the plan?

Cameron expressed that he didn’t blame anybody at the table for Belchertown’s financial situation, but he and the rest of the School Committee had hoped to learn about a solution at Thursday’s meeting.

“What is the plan? What is the solution?” Bansal asked.

The question was posed several times, but neither the Finance Committee nor the Select Board members offered any immediate answers.

Despite the town’s location along the proposed East-West rail line and its opportunities for development, Town Administrator Steve Williams said, few businesses and developers choose Belchertown. New growth for the fiscal year is only $125,000, and only two new restaurants plan to open in town.

The town has begun to more aggressively promote itself, Williams said. Belchertown has collaborated with the Chambers of Commerce from Amherst and Ware, launched a rebranding effort, and hired a grants manager and communication manager to advertise Belchertown to other areas. Select Board Member Jen Turner said these are the small efforts that will enhance the town’s appeal to businesses and developers.

“There are initiatives that we’ve started, but they’re years away before we really start to see those results,” Williams said.

Turner and Shea also encouraged residents to lobby their state legislators regarding the Chapter 70 formula and a new Quabbin Reservoir bill, which would compensate the 12 towns around the Quabbin for their role in protecting the watershed.

“We really do need more support from state funding in order to overcome this problem,” Shea said. “It’s nothing that we can do from our taxation base. We do everything that we can, but we still are where we are.”

Their answers, however, didn’t satisfy the School Committee and Cameron.

“So are we just going to wait for that the state to change the formula?” Cameron said. “I think people need to know that, because if educators have an opportunity to go somewhere else, I would encourage them to go.”

Emilee Klein can be reached at eklein@gazettenet.com.