AMHERST — Unless state aid increases, other sources of funding are found or member towns can contribute more, a fiscal year 2026 budget that eliminates around 17 positions may be the best-case scenario for the Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools, according to information presented at a “Four Towns Meeting” Saturday.

Officials from Amherst, Pelham, Shutesbury and Leverett, coming together for the third time this school year at the middle school library, largely agreed on a funding plan that will lead to an average of 4% assessment increases for the communities, but which will mean cuts at the high school and middle school: about five classroom teachers, five paraeducators, two clerical staff and five members of the central office.

The $36.5 million budget plan presented by interim Finance Director Shannon Bernacchia is $1.26 million short of the $37.76 million budget that would provide level services. That higher budget would require a $2.49 million increase over this year’s $35.27 million budget.

Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman said that in addition to the staff cuts, which are fewer than the 24 overall positions and 14 student-facing positions projected at a meeting in January, there would be reduced summer school stipends and no offering of paid sabbaticals, and renting a smaller and less expansive venue for graduation.

The district is now expecting a 15.72% increase in health insurance costs, down from the 19.92% increase Town Manager Paul Bockelman announced last week. The number was trimmed based on plan changes agreed to by the Employee Insurance Advisory Committee.

Focus on assessments

The main focus of the meeting was on the assessment method for how each town contributes to the regional budget.

Estimates show that for a level-services budget next year, the district would need $25.38 million, or about a 9.5% more than the current year, which officials don’t believe they can get. Instead, they are looking at a 4% overall increase using a modified statutory method, and applying guardrails to limit any one town’s increase to no more than 6.5%. The 4% increase would raise about $24.12 million, leaving about a $1.2 million gap.

“I do feel this is our most realistic option,” Bernacchia said.

But there’s a wrinkle in this scenario, in that Amherst is only allowed to have a 3.5% assessment increase based on financial guidelines set by the Town Council. In that case, the town would see its contribution increase $659,342, from $18.8 million to $19.5 million. To get to the overall 4% assessed increase for the region, the other member towns would to support higher percentage increases.

Shutesbury’s assessment would rise by 5.6%, or $91,795, from $1.65 million to $1.75 million; while Pelham and Leverett would both go up by 6.5%, with Pelham’s assessment rising by $69,270, from $1.07 million to $1.13 million, and Leverett’s going up $106,174 from $1.63 million to $1.74 million.

This framework got some pushback. Amherst At Large Councilor Mandi Jo Hanneke said that Pelham and Leverett aren’t moving much closer to the statutory method of calculating assessments, set by the state, and therefore should contribute more money to the budget than proposed. In this scenario, Leverett would have its assessment increase more than double and Pelham’s assessment increase would be four times as high.

Herman disagreed, noting the idea is to get closer to the state statutory method. “In our minds, this is year one of getting closer,” Herman said.

Leverett Select Board Chairman Tom Hankinson said his board has already approved a 6% assessment increase that would be brought to Town Meeting, just short of the 6.5%.

“We are prepared to go forward with it,” Hankinson said, adding that the town would possibly be willing to go beyond that with cooperation of the other towns. “Leverett is prepared to work together … to arrive at a budget fair and equitable to educate our children,” he said.

Shutesbury Finance Committee Chairman Ajay Khashu said a 5.6% increase challenges his town, though that upper limit could get support from officials.

“But $1.26 million in cuts represents the maximum of cuts we could tolerate,” Khashu said.

Khashu added that Shutesbury wants a commitment from all four towns to move toward the statutory method of calculating assessments, rather than continuing to observe guardrails that are getting the region farther from that approach. He said the statutory method is the fairest, most equitable way to collaborate, since it takes into the account the rolling average of how many students each town is sending to the district schools, while also factoring in each towns’ ability to pay.

John Trickey, Pelham’s Finance Committee chairman, said that a 6.5% assessment increase is doable. “It’s a big hit, but we’ll make it work,” Trickey said, adding that Pelham may be willing to add money to count toward the base budget.

Amherst Council President Lynn Griesmer said Amherst officials remain concerned about subsidizing the other towns, and that it doesn’t feel OK to Amherst taxpayers if other assessment methods ask Amherst to pay more. “If we go different that that, it’s robbing Peter to pay Paul,” Griesemer said.

During the two-hour meeting, each community got to break out for 40 minutes. There, Jennifer Shiao, an Amherst representative to the regional committee, said the town should be doing what is best for students, not worrying about what others towns are contributing. Shiao also explained the complication in determining assessments before the regional committee has voted on a budget.

Amherst Finance Director Melissa Zawadzki said the total contribution level is important. Amherst agreed to increase its base contribution from fiscal year 2025, meaning the overall increase is actually closer to 5.5% year over year.

As the 50 or so Town Council, Select Board, School Committee and Finance Committee members from each of the four towns entered the building, students who could be affected by the cuts to the school budget were stenciling the phrases “Save Our Schools” and “No Cuts,” written in bright colors, into snowbanks.

Also, greeting those in attendance were families and teachers holding signs, including a student who observed the poor condition of the middle school roof and pointing to the buckets set up in the library. The district was recently accepted into the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s accelerated repair program. But using money from the state would force the region to maintain the school as is for a decade, possibly affecting efforts to consolidate the middle and high schools that Herman pitched in September.

Hanneke said keeping the middle school open could cost the budget $25 million over 10 years, though Herman said it is worthwhile to preserve a building which, even should it be closed as a middle school, could continue to be used by the district in some other way. The middle school has also been seen as the likely home of the future 6th Grade Academy in the fall of 2026.

Hankinson called for Herman to form a study committee for the middle school building, while Trickey suggested that the four member towns find a way to do the repairs on middle school without any state support. That, he said, would ensure more flexibility for the decisions around the building

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.