Town’s Fiscal Sustainability Task Force for Regional Schools Reconfigured

Councilor Ana Devlin-Gauthier Appointed in Reconsidered Vote

Report on the Meeting of the Amherst Town Council, June 16, 2025, Part 2

This was a hybrid meeting held in Town Hall and over Zoom and was  recorded.

Present
Lynn Griesemer (President, District 2), Andy Steinberg, Mandi Jo Hanneke, Ellisha Walker (at large), Cathy Schoen and Freke Ette (District 1), Pat DeAngelis (District 2), George Ryan and Hala Lord (District 3), Jennifer Taub and Pam Rooney (District 4), Bob Hegner and Ana Devlin Gauthier (District 5).

Staff: Paul Bockelman (Town Manager) and Athena O’Keeffe (Council Clerk)

The Town Council reconsidered the vote it took on June 2 when it selected President Lynn Griesemer, Vice President George Ryan, Finance Committee chair Cathy Schoen, and Finance Committee member Mandi Jo Hanneke as representatives on School Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman’s Four-Town Fiscal Sustainability Task Force. At that meeting, Councilor Ana Devlin Gauthier who had been the leading voice on the council for increasing the school budget beyond the across-the-board 4% given to town departments in the Town Manager’s initial budget proposal was absent due to a family commitment. At this meeting, she requested that the vote be reconsidered, and in a split vote was selected to serve with Griesemer, Schoen and Hanneke.

At the June 2 meeting, Councilor Pam Rooney had suggested that Devlin Gauthier be appointed to the superintendent’s group in place of Ryan. Ellisha Walker supported the suggestion, pointing to Devlin Gauthier’s work with school committee representatives and the fact that she was a graduate of the Amherst regional schools. Since Devlin Gauthier was not at that meeting, she could not say whether she was interested in participating in the group. The vote was 4-7-1 to substitute her for Ryan (Rooney, Walker, Jennifer Taub, and Hala Lord voted yes and Freke Ette abstained).

Devlin Gauthier stated that it was clear to her from watching the recording of the June 2 meeting that a major reason that she was not selected was that councilors were unsure if she was interested in participating on the task force. She made it clear that she was interested. “A few months ago, I worked closely with the chair of the Regional School Committee and the chair of the Amherst School Committee to draft a charge for a committee seeking to do much of what the proposed task force would do,” she said. “I also feel compelled to mention how disheartened I was to hear the characterization of my efforts to balance the differing needs in our community as an inability to think critically. I go into every decision with a desire to understand, not with a decision already made.”

Jennifer Taub, Schoen, and Rooney expressed opinions that either the president or vice-president of the council need not be on the task force to allow for councilors with more interest and experience to participate.

 In support of his own candidacy, Ryan said, “I guess this becomes a question of how people are approaching this discussion. We’ve had a clear message from the Finance Committee that we are headed to a financial disaster, and we need to get the help and support of the School Committee in dealing with this. We’ve also seen repeatedly evidence that at the moment they don’t have the slightest interest in meeting us even halfway. So, my approach is to listen. I don’t plan to say anything. I don’t think this is a forum. I assume only one or perhaps two members would actually speak. We’re there simply to represent the council and to listen, and I think that’s something I’m perfectly capable of doing.” He continued, “[the town’s current financial situation] doesn’t seem to have any impact on our school committees. That’s deeply, personally distressing to me.”

After unanimously voting to reconsider the June 2 vote, each councilor was asked to select four preferred members for the task force and the leading vote-getters would be appointed. Not all councilors voted for four choices. Griesemer and Schoen received 13 votes each. Hanneke received 9, and Devlin Gauthier 7. Ryan received 5 votes and so was not appointed to the task force.

The collaborative task force will have five representatives from each town and members of the regional school committee and school administration. In addition to four councilors, Town Manager Paul Bockelman will represent Amherst. The task force’s charge is as follows: “to increase the understanding of budgetary challenges faced by both the schools and the towns and to recommend a path forward for future years.”  Any changes in the regional agreement or budgeting procedures would need to be approved by the governing bodies of each town. The superintendent has not yet found a facilitator for the group, but is working with the Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools and plans to begin meeting before August in order to present suggestions at the fall Four Towns Meeting.