BELCHERTOWN — Tensions ran high during Monday night’s Select Board meeting as Belchertown families and school district staff — who spilled out the back and sides of the room holding signs to protest the proposed $2.1 million cut to the district’s level-services budget — pleaded with board members to consider a Proposition 2½ budget override for fiscal year 2026.

“I’m not sure people realize just how hard it is to build thriving school communities with high-performing academics, incredible art and music programs and amazing athletic teams,” said Jake Hulsberg, a school parent and organizer of the newly created Save Our Schools Belchertown. “You need to level-fund our schools (and) provide the same programs and services as last year, then create a multi-board committee who’s tasked with determining what the long-term plan should be after receiving community input about our priorities.”

Although Select Board members questioned the idea of increasing revenues to pay for school operating costs by fostering a general budget override, in response to the outcry Monday, they did create a study committee investigate the implications of an override. Previously, the board and Finance Committee rejected the School Committee’s request for a Prop. 2½ override to fund level-services budgets for town departments during a Tri-Board Meeting on Feb. 3.

During last week’s School Committee meeting, School Superintendent Brian Cameron unveiled a tentative plan to cut the school district’s proposed level-services budget, including the elimination of 23 positions, closing Cold Springs School, and reorganizing grades among the remaining schools.

Several Select Board members said they’d support an override only if it was part of a long-term plan toward fiscal sustainability, as the town will soon begin a borrowing schedule to fix degrading buildings.

“I want to form this committee to take a solid look at all the issues, come up with the borrowing schedule, come up with an override schedule, but for all the departments,” Select Board Chair Ed Boscher said.

“I’m more worried about Belchertown for the next 50 years. I understand other folks are worried about Belchertown today,” he said.

The School Committee drafted a level-service budget for about $36 million, but Belchertown only had enough revenue to find a $34.9 million budget for the school departments. The level-service budget for all other departments in town came out to $13.8 million, with administration required to cut $400,000.

Stand out outside

Just before the Select Board meeting, Belchertown High School junior Camryn Scoon searched for Belchertown students among a restive crowd of dozens of residents around Town Hall, many of them holding signs with slogans such as “fund our schools, save our future,” that had been organized by SOS Belchertown. As Scoon captured photos of students holding signs for social media, she talked about how cuts to last year’s level-services budget have increased her class sizes and decreased one-on-one time with her teachers.

“We can’t put students first without putting teachers first, and we can’t keep taking away funds from schools because it’s deteriorating classrooms,” she said.

During Monday night’s meeting, students from Chestnut Hill Elementary School echoed Scoon’s concerns. Maggie Chin, Zachary Wall and William Nadeau spoke about how previous cuts to level services reduced their access to “specials” like physical education and music.

“I really miss having that time during the day to get up and run around the gym,” Chin said. “My older brothers all got to play in the band, run track and do after-school clubs. Will those things even be there for me when I get older?”

Other speakers, mostly parents, spoke in favor of a budget override as a way to avoid deep and damaging cuts to school spending. High school teacher Maria Scudere noted that state law cites operating budget expenses as a reason for considering an override.

It’s a feasible solution for when inflation outpaces tax increases, said resident Holly Field, noting that 21 communities in Massachusetts approved overrides in fiscal year 2025.

Resident Crystal Duprey told the Select Board that although she initially believed Belchertown had higher-than-average property taxes, she recently learned the town has “one of the lowest of single-family property tax percentages of income of our surrounding communities,” coupled with one of the lowest amounts of spending per pupil.

School Committee Vice Chair Ruby Banasal spoke in favor of having an override. “Staying within the 2½ limit is not living within our means. It’s proposing an arbitrary cap at a time when course correction is necessary,” he said. “If we do nothing, I believe property values will decline, families will opt for school choice at a cost to the town, or move away altogether, also at a cost to the town.”

Select Board members reminded speakers that their willingness to pay higher property taxes to fund the schools is not shared with other residents, especially seniors on fixed incomes and families of lower income.

“There are people in this town I’m hearing from that are saying they’re going to have to move because they can no longer afford to stay in the houses they’re in,” Select Board member Lesa Pearson said. “It’s not just people that are in their 70s. I’m also hearing this from young families who are struggling to put food on the table.”

Superintendent responds

Not only has the town has raised the school budget each year, Boscher said, but the Select Board is not making decisions on personnel to cut or buildings to close. Boscher said he would not support any override before he was satisfied that the schools had explored all of their budgetary options.

“Any department that is asking to reach even further into taxpayers’ pockets needs to be transparent as to why and rationalize how it got to that point in the first place,” he said.

Cameron objected to Boscher’s statement.

“Every year I’ve been superintendent, we have cut level service positions, and all of you and the Finance Committee have said we understand the cuts,” he said. “I find it very disheartening, the comments tonight, like you didn’t know the schools were going to have this big of a cut. It was $1.7 (million) last year, and you said to me, ‘it’s going to be worse next year.’”

Select Board member Jen Turner advocated to find a number between the town and the schools. She said it’s unfair for town departments to bear the brunt of poor financial practices by the previous administrations that ultimately led to this fiscal cliff, such as failing to save free cash and maintain stabilization funds.

“The only thing that’s fair is for us to come up with a number, and for all of you to organize that information to the community,” Turner said. “If you’re organizing, you should take this to the state because we can do the Chapter 70 organizing,” referring to longstanding efforts to get the state to overhaul its local education funding guidelines.

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