AMHERST — Budgeting through a multiyear strategic approach, appealing to the state for more Fair Share Amendment funding and reducing the use of contracted services are among preliminary recommendations included in a draft report, issued by an Amherst Regional School Committee subcommittee, aimed at ensuring financial stability for the regional schools.
The 20-page report from the Financial Sustainability Subcommittee, whose members since spring 2024 have undertaken an in-depth study of the regional school budgets, staffing, enrollments and programs, suggests that the budget processes in Amherst, which is part of the Grades 7-12 region with Pelham, Shutesbury and Leverett, means “schools being
reduced more than other departments.”
“The proportion of the budget that is being allocated to education is shrinking, even as the general budget is growing, and it is most dramatically so in Amherst compared to the other small towns,” Anna Heard, a Shutesbury representative, told the regional committee this week.
The report specifically notes that “shifts in town spending priorities and operations have caused education’s share of the town of Amherst’s operating budget to decline from 54% in FY2009 to 47% in FY25.”
A detailed section outlines strategies and recommendations, and “to ensure long-term stability, the Amherst Regional Schools and the four towns must move beyond year-to-year reductions and adopt coordinated, forward-looking strategies across the district, state, and municipal levels.”
Those long-term sustainable paths, Heard said, include focusing more on increasing revenues, but also thinking about ways to reduce expenditures through both specific investments and thinking about things differently. In addition to the multiyear strategic planning approach, she said there could be renewable energy options to reduce operating costs, municipal and regional collaboration that pushes for changes to charter school funding, with letters previously sent asking the state to deny the expansion of the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School in Hadley.
But the subcommittee report notes the current inflationary environment, too.
“Basically all budgets in western Massachusetts and in Massachusetts more generally are increasing, and increases to salaries and increases to other budgets have caused competition pressure on Amherst to increase those items,” Heard said.
The contents of the report indicate fewer students are enrolled at the regional level. “Enrollment decline has hit our regional district fairly substantially,” Heard said. But the 11% decline is coupled with a 12% increase in students with disabilities.
The report also includes detailed accounts of all the programs and services that have been cut in recent years, such as culinary arts and auto shop in 2018 and restorative justice in 2025, the buildings that have been closed, like the South East Street campus in 2012, and staff streamlining, with 167.3 full-time equivalent teachers in 2004 and 20 years later 109.1 full-time equivalent teachers.
The report came out just before representatives from the four towns were expected to get a presentation on municipal reports from the Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools.
Amherst representative Bridget Hynes said the subcommittee pushed up the release of the draft report so that the internal and external dynamics can be better understood before having a dialogue on those reports.
Pushback is likely from town officials, said Amherst representative Irv Rhodes. “Some of this information is going to be explosive in terms of discussion,” Rhodes said.
Chairwoman Sarahbess Kenney, of Pelham, said she doesn’t think the focus needs to be on Amherst’s budgeting approach.
“This feels like not the right place to call out how another town does their own budgeting,” Kenney said.
Heard explained that the way Amherst does budgeting is different from the smaller towns, adding a layer of complication because of the unique approach.
Leverett representative Tim Shores appreciated the details in the paper, but said his concern is that the report needs to have accurate data.
Amherst representative Jennifer Shiao said there are discrepancies, such as the percentage of Amherst’s overall budget going to education outlined in the report and publicized elsewhere.
Pelham representative William Sherr said Pelham’s enrollment numbers look stable in the report, but that”s only because of choiced-in students, not children who actually live in the town.
Another worry is whether the report will set the stage or show the need for Amherst to pursue a Proposition 2½ tax-cap override to increase spending, which in turn could affect the smaller towns, which all have additional tax-cap capacity.
