School Staff Pans Proposals to Keep Sixth Grade in Elementary Schools

Large Budget Shortfall Projected for Elementary Schools

Report on the Meeting of the Amherst School Committee, December 16, 2025

By Maura Keene

This was a hybrid meeting in the High School library and was recorded.

Several school staff members argued against a proposal by Amherst School Committee (ASC) members Bridget Hynes and Deb Leonard to abandon a plan to move sixth grade students to the middle school next year and accommodate them in the new Amethyst Brook Elementary School and Crocker Farm. The arguments against changing the plan were numerous, ranging from creating overcrowding at the two elementary schools, increasing transportation costs, and disrupting the planning that has already taken place and causing uncertainty among staff, students, and families.

Long-term Wildwood principal Nick Yaffee said that he has worked with sixth-grade teachers regarding the establishment of the Chestnut Street Academy for sixth-graders at the middle school and believes that the sixth graders will thrive with the program developed and that the arrangement could serve as an incubator for new ideas at the middle school. He stated that current fifth graders have already met with the superintendent and are “very excited” about the move.

Parent Alex Gantar objected to the short notice for the proposed change and the lack of budgetary implications. He argued for more time for the school community to discuss the proposed changes.

Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman (Dr. Xi) revealed a running document she has created regarding the restructuring of grades K-6 with the opening of the new school next fall and the closing of Wildwood. She noted that many meetings have already occurred between elementary and middle school staff, particularly about making sure that all necessary Special Education programs will be offered at the middle school. Student Services Administrator JoAnn Smith said the Special Education staff at the middle school is looking forward to the students in the sixth grade having a longer experience in the middle school, giving staff more time to form richer relationships with them. She added that the middle school Special Education staff could accommodate the sixth graders, and no extra staff would be needed.

As for the Caminantes dual language program, the 50-50% allocation of time for instruction in English and Spanish will continue in some form for sixth graders at the middle school. Plans are to offer Advanced Spanish at the middle school, which may be open to students who qualify but have not been in the Caminantes program previously. There are plans to continue growth in Spanish instruction as the students move through the high school.

Crocker Farm principal Derek Shea and Elizabeth Burns, Director of the Early Education Center located at Crocker Farm stated that adding all the sixth graders to Crocker Farm, as suggested in one of Hynes’ and Leonard’s proposals, is not viable. Shea said Crocker Farm, built in 1966, does not have special rooms for music and other programs, but uses extra classrooms for those programs and other special programs, such as English Language Learners. The school has 25 classrooms, six of which are dedicated to the preschool. Shea stated that if the extra three classrooms were not available, instruction would probably need to take place in the hallways.

Burns noted that the preschool already needs more space than the six classrooms it currently occupies. There is always a waitlist for the preschool, she said, and the school is legally mandated to meet the needs of the students, and those needs have increased since COVID.

Dr. Xi said she plans to develop a model for the ideal staffing for grades K-6 by the end of January and inform the staff by March. Administrative staff is beginning to think of where the sixth-grade academy will be located in the middle school. A lease agreement between the Amherst schools and the regional district must be submitted to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education by May or June. She added that changing course after the past six months of planning would cause distraction and delay for all involved.

A vote on the Hynes/Leonard proposal has not yet been scheduled.

$2 Million Budget Shortfall Projected
School Finance Director Shannon Bernacchia presented a preliminary budget projection for FY2027. She stated that much is still unknown—how many students who are slated to be moved to a different school will opt to stay in their current school and what the transportation arrangement will be. Also, school choice revenue and expenses are still unknown.

What is expected, however, is a large increase in insurance costs. The town estimates that health insurance will increase by 18%, which would cost the elementary schools about $1 million. Liability and property insurance are also expected to increase substantially, Bernacchia said. Salary cost is projected to increase by 7.7%.

Bernacchia said it will be difficult to stay within the town’s guidelines of a 3.5% increase for FY2027, which is actually 2.5% because the $270,000 from free cash added by the council to the FY26 budget is not to be added to the starting amount for FY27. She noted that the Special Education Stabilization fund has $242,000 that can be used in an emergency if there is an influx of students with needs that the school district does not have the staff to accommodate, but it would require approval from the Amherst School Committee and the Town Council to be used.

With the opening of the net zero Amethyst Brook School, there may be savings in utilities and rebates from excess electricity produced, but Bernacchia was unable to estimate how much that will be.

Summer programs in 2026 will be located at Wildwood Elementary School to enable needed work to be done at Crocker Farm. Some money has been allocated for playground, roof and HVAC repair, but that work could not be done while students were in the school. Bernacchia said plans are to complete the replace the playground and the preschool storage shed and repave the basketball court this summer, with more work scheduled for FY 2028. There is also $70,000 in IT expense so that the sixth graders will be able to have chrome books like the middle schoolers.

The schools will also submit requests for a Special Education van and a maintenance vehicle to the Joint Capital Planning Committee. That request is due by the end of the year.

School Committee member Sarah Marshall stated, “This is an eye-popping deficit.” She requested that Bernacchia separate out which expenses are required and which are discretionary, although she recognized that many of the discretionary expenses will be for programming.

The budget will be refined as enrollment is finalized.

School Start Times Will Probably Be Later Next Year
Dr. Xi told the ASC that for the first six months that the new school is open next year, there will only be one entrance and exit for all buses and cars, because the north entrance will be for the construction vehicles needed to demolish the old school. She has been working with the DPW on figuring out traffic patterns, but she is looking for the elementary schools to start at 9 a.m. or later to accommodate the increased number of buses.

Marshall asked if this change was only for the next year or would continue after construction was complete. She also wanted to know if the later time would mesh with the plans for the middle school and high school to start earlier—at 8:30 a.m.. School Committee Chair Jennifer Shiao stated that it was imperative to do outreach and get community input if the start time was to be changed, because it affects parents’ work schedules. Dr. Xi assured the committee that she is planning to do outreach to the students, staff, and families in January. The plans are still in progress.