AMHERST — The Amherst School Committee this week approved with little discussion a budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 which preserves all jobs in the town’s three elementary schools, but cuts three district-level positions.
Instead of making cuts within the schools during a “tough budget year,” the $22,117,324 spending plan eliminates three full-time positions in the district’s central office. Those jobs are two clerical positions and a director of teaching and learning, which oversaw curricula in the elementary schools.
School Director of Finance Sean Mangano said the director position served an important function while the district was shifting curricula but is no longer critical.
“Now that we’ve changed the curriculum that position is no longer needed,” Mangano said.
The budget includes money to add four para-educators designated for special education, Mangano said.
School Committee Chairwoman Katherine Appy on Tuesday thanked administrators for working out the details in such a tight year and for taking a hit in order for cuts to “stay as far away from the classrooms as possible.”
Appy said the approved budget was difficult to put together because of state funding and shifts in charter school tuition. Mangano said an increase in charter school tuition of about $300,000 – caused by an enrollment increase of 12 students and coupled with a reduction in the state’s tuition reimbursement – made this budget a challenge.
The budget is up 1.13 percent from the fiscal year ending June 30.
District officials also shifted library staff to save money, cutting the librarian positions down to part-time. The specifics of that are still being ironed out, officials said.
“That’ll be up to the principals and the staff,” Superintendent Maria Geryk said. “They’re going to work on that together and come back to me with the specifics.”
Committee members also unanimously approved a revised resolution that gives students, in consultation with their families, the right to opt out of standardized tests such as MCAS and PARCC.
Language in the original version of the resolution alarmed some parents, said Max Page, University of Massachusetts Amherst professor who introduced the measure, which he said follows a handful of others statewide.
“There was a lot of fear out there,” said Page, referring to a line in the original resolution that warned opting out may have consequences at the district level. The line was struck from the approved text. “It ended up in a good place,” Page said.
Doug Slaughter, an Amherst Select Board member and database analyst for the district, also unveiled a new tool during the meeting, called “tableau.” Officials could use the platform to track data surrounding demographics, enrollment and other elements over time.
Committee member Rick Hood, who attended his final meeting Tuesday, said the tool enabled committee members to see how current numbers compare to years past and therefore make more informed decisions.
Appy thanked Hood for requesting such a mechanism throughout his six years on the committee, even though she admittedly had not seen the value in it until watching it in action Tuesday.
“I just want to thank you for your tenacity,” Appy told Hood, also referring to him as a “worker bee.” “It’s a real significant contribution to the district.”
Appy pointed out how different the committee’s next meeting will be without Hood and committee member Kathleen Traphagen, as neither is seeking reelection Tuesday.
Appy thanked Traphagen for asking “hard but difficult questions.”
“It’s been a great learning experience,” Traphagen said in response. “I will likely be sitting at this table again in the future.”
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@gazettenet.com.