NORTHAMPTON — Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra formally introduced her $145 million fiscal year 2026 budget before the City Council Wednesday night amid the backdrop of advocates of higher school spending making one final push to prevent a likely reduction of services next year.

Members of the advocacy group Support Our Schools, along with members of the Northampton Public Schools and the Northampton School Committee, held a standout demonstration in front of City Hall before heading into council chambers to give public comment at a special council meeting. Others participated remotely via Zoom to give their input.

“We’ve been funding our public schools for centuries, based on a shared belief that education should be free and available to all,” said Mindy Haskins Rogers, who tuned in remotely to the meeting. “This is not a moment to rethink our values about public education.”

The mayor’s budget calls for increasing funding next fiscal year for NPS by 5.88%, an amount that Superintendent Portia Bonner has stated would be enough to prevent layoffs, but would still see a reduction of services and elimination of some positions through attrition. Positions eliminated include a technology integrationist position at Northampton High School, but Bonner said the integrationist would be transferred to another position in the district.

Beth Adams, a longtime math teacher at NHS, told the council that the tech integrationist position was a vital part of facilitating her job as a teacher.

“She works with special-ed students and their teachers, so that students on IEPs (individualized education programs) get the tech accommodations they are legally entitled to,” Adams said. “Cutting this position is penny wise and pound foolish.”

Also advocating for higher funding was Amelia Durbin, a 16-year-old junior at Northampton High School and a co-chair of the city’s Youth Commission.

“I understand the complexity of the funding situation. But the reality is we need to either figure out a new system or figure out some way to get more funding for the schools, because they’re just kind of constantly not prioritized,” Durbin said. “We’re losing progress in conversations around education and funding, and the fight is not against each other. The root of our funding issues is in the state.”

Sciarra’s budget next fiscal year would allocate a total of $43,894,984 million to the schools, up from the $41,455,340 amount appropriated to the district throughout the current fiscal year.

Support Our Schools has led the movement to increase school funding, with a political action committee bearing the name of the group pledging to support candidates that support higher spending in the upcoming municipal election. In a release put out Tuesday, the group called on Sciarra to provide an additional $600,000 to the schools to achieve level services, preventing any potential reductions in positions or programs.

“Although the mayor agreed with the City Council in March that the schools were in crisis, the mayor’s school budget falls $600,000 short of maintaining current staff,” the statement said. “The FY26 budget will necessitate further cuts, including cuts to the gardening program, multiple cut positions that will not be replaced after retirements, cuts to supplies, and involuntary transfers and contract non-renewals for educators.”

Some who attended the meeting, however, spoke in favor of the mayor’s budget, such as Tina Ingman of Ward 6.

“We know this budget is the product of months of collaboration between the mayor’s office, all departments and residents,” Ingman said. “Maintaining basic fiscal financial stability during volatile times is caring about people, especially our most vulnerable residents throughout the city.”

In her budget message to the council on Wednesday, Sciarra continued to defend her strategy for school funding, despite a “strong budget” recommended by the School Committee that called for higher funding.

“Unfortunately, it is not possible to build a fiscally responsible budget based on [the School Committee’s] request,” Sciarra wrote. “Some of the School Committee members who voted for the recommendation even acknowledged that in practice it would be fiscally irresponsible.”

Sciarra also called for more state funding for the district via Chapter 70 funding, and also noted cuts in education under the administration of President Donald Trump.

“Public education is under attack like never before by the Federal Administration. There’s a great deal of work ahead to push for more support from both the State and Federal Governments,” Sciarra said. “At the same time we need strong collaboration here at home to explore the best ways, to allocate our existing resources and ensure every child receives the best education possible.”

Following the mayor’s presentation, the council will hold two budget hearings, with various department heads in the city presenting, before taking its first vote on the budget in June.

On Wednesday, Councilor Alex Jarrett inquired whether it could be determined how much other departments would be cut if the mayor were to add $600,000 to the schools.

“I’m curious what the impacts would be on the other departments, the non-school departments, if we reduce those departments ... I would appreciate it if department heads could just speak to what kind of impacts we would see with those that level of reduction,” Jarrett said.