SOUTH HADLEY — Danielle Kelly has offered supplemental reading instruction for almost 500 South Hadley students since starting at the district in 2006, preventing 95% of students from needing special education reading supports and boosting literacy rates.

By facilitating small reading groups with intensive programming, Kelly’s work as a reading interventionist kept students falling behind in literacy as close to grade-appropriate reading levels as possible. But after nearly 20 years, Kelly’s position as a reading interventionist at Mosier Elementary School is one of the 20 positions that are proposed to be cut next year as a result of school funding constraints.

“When children don’t get this additional education support to close the gap, the gap will get bigger,” Kelly told the School Committee on Thursday night. “The inequality gap will grow. Those families that can afford to get outside-of-school tutoring will get the support, but those that can’t won’t, and their gap will get bigger.”

Due mostly to increased health insurance and transportation costs, South Hadley’s level-services school budget is $2.1 million over the amount of money allocated, leaving the district to cut into its largest budget item: personnel.

Proposed cuts at the elementary level include a kindergarten teacher, a first grade teacher, a fourth grade teacher, a special education teacher, a therapeutic classroom specialist, a reading interventionist and a math interventionist.

Michael E. Smith Middle School might lose two English teachers, three math teachers, a reading interventionist, a custodian and a certified nursing assistant.

Positions suggested to cut at the high school include a Spanish teacher and a special education teacher, a custodian and certified nursing assistant. Additionally, the middle and high school band teachers is proposed to become one position.

Superintendent Mark McLaughlin was the first to admit his discontent with the budget before even presenting it to the committee. He, along with Jennifer Voyik, assistant superintendent for finance and business operations, have already scheduled a meeting with state Rep. Omar Gomez, D-Easthampton, to discuss the state funding formula for education, as many school districts across Hampshire County are facing large deficits in trying to maintain level-services budgets.

“The fiscal year 2026 reality is that even with innovation and efficiencies, the budget is not enough to provide the resources needed to serve the youth of our community with high-quality education, growth-oriented extracurricular experiences, clean and well-maintained facilities and innovative programming,” McLaughlin said.

In addition to insurance and transportation costs going up, the district was recently forced by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to hire 23 paraeducators — for a total of $557,000 — to meet individualized education plans (IEPs), less than a year after cutting 19 such positions in the current budget.

At the previous School Committee meeting, McLaughlin explained a plan for the district to reduce rising transportation costs, which will save teaching jobs in the long run. The town will allocate $1.2 million in free cash to purchase vans for special education transportation, saving the district $600,000 annually on one of the district’s most expensive services. However, this won’t be enough to cover the deficit.

“The complexity of student needs has not diminished since last year, they have increased,” McLaughlin said. “The cost of resources needed to provide students with the quality education they deserve has not diminished since last year, they have increased. The cost to maintain heated facilities and to keep the lights on have not decreased since last year, they have increased. What has not increased, but has in fact diminished since last year, is the revenue needed to provide our students with a free and appropriate public education.”

Parents weigh in

Concerned parents flooded the public comment portion of the School Committee meeting, raising issues with the loss of teachers for the youngest students and large class sizes.

Messina Riley, a parent of 13 children who went through South Hadley schools, worried that elementary school staff without the proper support will fail to notice students falling behind before it’s too late. One of her children will graduate South Hadley High School at a seventh grade reading level, Riley said, and she doesn’t want other students to find themselves in the same situation.

“The positions being eliminated or left unfilled are those that directly impact our students’ learning, safety and emotional well-being,” said Sam Sabbs, a mother of two children in the district. “The proposed cuts will increase class sizes, making it even more difficult for teachers to provide the individualized attention that each child deserves.”

With these new cuts, kindergarten and first grade classrooms will have 20 students to one teacher. Fourth grade classrooms will have 26 students, fifth grade classrooms will have 27 students, seventh grade classrooms will average 28 students and eighth grade classrooms will have26 students.

“These are our youngest learners, age 5 to 7,” parent Megan Bartlett said. “The idea last year was that we would have the interventionist (at elementary levels) so that way there wouldn’t be such a gap once students moved on to Mosier or Michael E Smith Middle School. This (cut) is detrimental to the education of our children.”

A traditional therapeutic classroom that offers specialized support for students with difficult social-emotional or academic needs will no longer be offered at Plains Elementary School, leaving grandparent Michelle St. Dennis concerned for her grandchild’s safety and the safety of other students.

“There are many, many things that occur in that classroom that should not be witnessed by other students, for their safety and for my grandson’s safety,” St. Dennis said. “He is not able to integrate fully into a regular classroom.”

After the presentation, School Committee Chair Eric Friesner said the solution is not to ask for more money from other town departments, as they are also hurting from the hikes in insurance, retirement and liability costs. Instead, he is following South Hadley Education Association (SHEA) President Amy Foley’s advice — organize to change how public education is funded.

“Our community cannot afford to fight our schools. Our members cannot fight each other, and SHEA cannot fight the district,” Foley said. “When you combine the cuts of funding with the drastic change in education the last 10 years, it means administrators and educators are continually asked to do more with so much less. I urge the whole community to come together, to fight together for our students.”