Regional School Committee Approves Middle School Roof Project

Report on the Meeting of Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee, September 23 2025

This meeting was held in the library of the Amherst Regional High School, and simulcast over Amherst Media Channel 15, and was recorded. 

Present
Regional School Committee: Sarabess Kenney (Chair, Pelham), Anna Heard (Shutesbury), Bridget Hynes (Amherst), Deb Leonard (Amherst), Sarah Marshall (Amherst), Irv Rhodes (Amherst), Jennifer Shiao (Amherst), William Scherr (Pelham), Tim Shores (Leverett)

Staff: E. Xiomara Herman (Dr. Xi, Superintendent of Schools) and Shannon Bernacchia  (Director of Finance, Amherst Public Schools)

The Amherst Regional Middle School is one step closer to a new roof. After a presentation by Vertex, the owner’s project manager, and Turowski2 Architecture, Inc, the committee members unanimously approved $10,024,016 to the Amherst-Pelham Regional Middle School Roof Replacement Project (Memo of Proposed Votes on Roof and Building Conditions Survey & Assessment document). The middle school roof has been subject to delays in repair since at least 2016, with a significant escalation of damage  in recent years.

Now, the district will wait until October 29 for the next Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) meeting for the state to officially approve the reimbursement construction grant. With the MSBA approval,  61.59% of the cost will be reimbursed.

Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman (Dr. Xi) also gave a presentation of the Superintendent 2025-2026 Goals for the regional schools, and the Financial Sustainability Subcommittee shared their report (view Power Point Presentation here).

Superintendent 2025-2026 Goals
With no public comments, the meeting began with a discussion of Dr. Xi’s goals for the year. This was the first look at the document by the committee, and they plan to vote to approve the goals during the next meeting on Tuesday, October 6.

The goals were broad and looked into instructional leadership, management and operations, family and community engagement, and professional culture. Dr Xi asked committee members what they  specifically would like to see as evidence that these goals are going to be fulfilled. “I would like to hear some suggested evidence that I might not be thinking of…I have an educator’s lens consistently, so I may be thinking through my educator lens and not another lens,” she said.

Dr Xi will meet with the Evaluation Subcommittee to create a rubric addressing more specific interests relating to timelines, evaluation, and clarification of the superintendent’s goals.

Middle School MSBA Roof Update
After the presentation by Vertex and Turowski2 Architecture, the committee members’ questions were answered, and the committee approved unanimously the $10 million needed for construction on the Amherst Regional Middle School Roof Replacement Project.

While the roof is known to have leakage problems, Turowski2 Architecture also discovered that the interior drainage system does not work properly. To combat the issue, the water will be redirected to a perimeter excess system to protect the roof.

One of the newer requirements for the MSBA reimbursement grant is that a project must be solar ready. The district has set aside 1,000 square feet of the roof for a steel dunnage system above the roof to support the installation of  solar panels in the future. The committee suggested that it was unlikely that solar panels would actually be installed. “It’s very disappointing about the solar situation. I hear a lot of signs of disappointment,” said Tim Shores..

Shannon Bernacchia, Director of Finance, explained that the MSBA also requires that the building where the project takes place will be in service for “educational programing” for 20 years, and if the district decides to change anything to the contrary, they will need to notify the MSBA and the MSBA might act to recapture funds. 

The price tag for the project includes $8,470,475 for construction including materials, labor and oversight and $1,583,637 for soft costs including the designer, printing, advertising, and bidding, which adds up to the total cost of $10,024,016  with 61.95% hopefully to be reimbursed by the MSBA (Here is the budget).

The assessment and plans for the roof were sent to the MSBA in August, and will most likely be approved by the MSBA on October 29. Once approved by the MSBA, the town will have 90 days to have the school committees and each town approve the funding. If all goes well, construction will take place during the summer of 2026 and finish by the time school starts in the fall.

Report from Financial Sustainability Subcommittee
With a list of accomplishments, responses, and future goals, the Financial Sustainability Subcommittee (FSS)  presented its work looking into the past actions by the school district to determine how to make the schools more financially responsible (Presentation and Report by FSS Committee). Members include Deb Leonard (chair), Shores,.Anna Heard,, and Bridget Hynes.

Heard presented the report and prefaced it by stating that they are working towards being financially sustainable in a competitive climate with charter schools on the rise.“Some of the challenges that the schools or district are facing are that we are currently in a very inflammatory environment. Basically, all budgets in Western Massachusetts and in Massachusetts, more generally, are increasing,” she said.

According to their findings, total enrollment in the regional schools has decreased by 11% since 2019, with the number of students with disabilities increasing by 12% in the same time frame. In addition, admissions to charter schools could increase with the planned expansion of the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School. 

To cut costs in 2025 alone, the district has consolidated 11 departments into seven and removed four department heads, as well as ending the restorative justice program and summer programs. The report demonstrated that for the 2026 fiscal year, the district stopped providing guided study, limited advisory, and has proposed cuts to more programs and teams like fall ultimate frisbee, mountain biking, survival living, and hip-hop. 

The subcommittee also came up with their own list of ideas of how to further reduce spending and focus priorities around vulnerable programs during budget cuts. The report will be edited and voted on at a future meeting.