AMHERST — Outside Town Hall on Monday, joining other parents prior to the Town Council’s require public forum on the town budget, South Amherst resident Alex Lopez expressed skepticism toward the process with a sign reading “worst annual tradition.”
Speaking to councilors via Zoom, Lopez said the town is regularly investing in buildings, not the people who work in them, from teachers and paraprofessionals to firefighters.
“I hope that there will be a drastic change in our relationship to our residents, to our employees in this upcoming budget,” Lopez said. “Unfortunately, I don’t have much faith in that,” adding that accountability is needed but “right now the only thing I see different is it keeps getting worse.”
“The fact that we are steadily building new structures, but can’t adequately staff the fire department when they’re burning down is telling,” Lopez said.
Lopez was among several parents who spoke to the Town Council as it begins setting guidelines that will lead to the development of budgets over the winter and into the spring.
Others gathered in the Town Room after rallying outside, with a large banner reading “Amherst for the People” set up along a wall, and another sign being held stating, “Don’t Skimp on School.”
Rachel Hall, a parent who moved to the town for the schools, said Amherst five years ago still had the best schools, but now teachers are leaving the district and children are being unnecessarily restrained.
“Now we can’t stay out of the papers for negative, preventable incidents,” Hall said. “Administration is constantly quitting because they’re not supported and they don’t have livable working conditions.”
Another parent, Allegra Clark, said town officials should go to the University of Massachusetts for support and help bring back programs that have been lost at the high school, from child care, culinary, wood, metal and auto shops.
“We need to be investing in our schools to make sure that in the long run they are sustainable and to make sure our children have the best education that we can provide them,” Clark said.
Incoming School Committee member Laura Jane Hunter said investment could mean smaller class sizes that would benefit all children, stemming the declining reputation of the schools that has coincided with diminished funding.
“It is critical that we align our community priorities with the priorities that support our students,” Hunter said.
Esther Azar, a School Committee candidate, said that town surpluses should go to a stabilization fund to support the schools.
“I’m tired of talking about all of the suffering that is going on in our schools and all of our students that are not getting their needs met,” Azar said.
Angelica Bernal, accompanied by her daughter, said schools remain in crisis and decline due to what she termed a “climate of austerity,’ observing that the dual language Caminantes summer program has gone away, and teachers and coordinators have left.
“This climate of austerity that I’ve had to see for the last four years is one that has left us wondering if this town cares about schools and providing this town’s children with a quality education,” Bernal said.
Cathleen Mitchell, a parent of two children in the schools, suggested reducing capital so that more money is available for operating budgets for educators in classrooms and a more equitable approach. This was seconded by Deb Leonard, a member of the School Committee.
Firefighting budget
While parents thanked the firefighters for their work and agreed they need better funding, too, firefighters, who were celebrated for their response to the Olympia Place fire, also spoke.
Sarah Forsaith, president of Amherst Firefighters Local 1764, said the union is not asking for an immediate full scale hiring spree of 18, but to ensure that a plan is in place to address dangerous low staffing levels that leads to too much reliance on mutual aid.
“Commit to adding positions annually until Amherst reaches the national firefighter per capita average,” Forsaith said. “That plan will show residents that you prioritize their safety.”
Amherst Fire Capt. Tom Valle said the department is responding to 7,200 calls per year, often with only seven or eight firefighters on a shift.
“We are regularly sending fire apparatus with one or two people to life or death emergencies,” Valle said. “By regularly, I mean every day.”
“If this problem isn’t fixed, I don’t know if this has been made clear, people are going to die, and that should be terrifying to every single person who lives in this town,” said firefighter Elijah Norman.