NORTHAMPTON — Less than week before the City Council is expected to vote on the city’s fiscal 2026 budget, Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra has secured an additional $217,000 for the school district, with funds planned to be used to restore two high school teacher positions as well as an elementary school gardening program.
Sciarra was able to secure the additional funds by reviewing information technology line items for the schools, identifying around $101,000 worth of savings by removing several items. These items include a service the district had canceled but had not been removed from the budget, and reduced items due to negotiation of a better phone contract.
In addition, Sciarra said she increased the base $43 million budget for the schools by an additional $116,000, due to the Massachusetts State Senate approving a budget with increased state aid for Northampton. The Senate budget had not yet been passed when the mayor submitted her original budget last month.
“There is no guarantee that the Senate budget increase is the budget that will prevail and is ultimately signed by the governor,” Sciarra wrote in a statement Friday. “But, to add some additional funds, I will gamble that it will be approved.”
Sciarra had originally pledged to increase the Northampton Public Schools budget by 5.8% this year, an amount that Superintendent Portia Bonner previously stated would be enough to prevent layoffs but still lead to cuts to some services and removal of some positions due to attrition.
Bonner told the Gazette on Friday she would use the additional funds to restore positions of English and biology teachers at Northampton High School.
“Our priority is to fill content staffing, to cover core courses and AP classes,” Bonner said, referring to teaching positions.
Bonner also said the funds would be used to restore a gardening program in the district’s four elementary schools. The gardening program had been scheduled to be discontinued this year due to the funding gap in the mayor’s budget.
Advocates of higher school spending had called for an additional $600,000 to be added to the school budget to achieve level services, preventing any reductions this year. The announcement by Sciarra makes it a third of the way to such a budget.
The council is expected to vote on fiscal year budget on Wednesday.
Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.
