Leverett Residents Rally for Rural School Aid During Statewide Action Week
Asa Tew at the Save Our Schools Standout at Leverett Elementary School, March 12, 2026. Photo: Eliza Strickland
Dozens of Leverett residents gathered Thursday, March 12, outside Leverett Elementary School (LES) to call attention to the need for stronger state support for rural schools. Parents, teachers, and community members stopped by during morning drop-off and afternoon pickup to pose for photos holding signs reading “Leverett Says: Save Our Schools!”
The event was part of Rural Schools Action Week, when communities across Massachusetts organized local actions to highlight the financial challenges facing small rural school districts.
“Leverett Elementary School is a small but mighty school, and the teachers and staff get excellent results with limited resources, But they can’t keep doing more with less forever.”
— Eliza Strickland, parent and organizer
Organizers said the community response was enthusiastic, with many residents taking a few minutes to participate and express support for increased state funding for rural schools. “LES is a small but mighty school, and the teachers and staff get excellent results with limited resources,” said organizer Eliza Strickland, who was taking photos while her second grader handed out flyers. “But they can’t keep doing more with less forever. Without stronger state support for rural schools, communities like ours will face harder and harder choices about what we can afford.”
Town officials say the issue is particularly urgent for small towns like Leverett that rely heavily on property taxes and have limited flexibility in their budgets. As a member of the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District, Leverett must meet its regional school assessment each year, leaving the local elementary school budget as one of the few areas of the education budget directly controlled by the town.
“When most of your local revenue comes from property taxes and a large portion of the education budget is determined through a regional assessment, there are very few places for a small town to adjust spending,” said Patricia Duffy, chair of the Leverett Select Board.
Across Massachusetts, rural districts face unique financial pressures that are not fully addressed by the state’s primary education funding formula, known as Chapter 70. “The formula for Chapter 70 funding is unfair to small school districts because it doesn’t take into account their higher per-pupil costs due to the absence of economies of scale,” said Phil Carter, chair of the Leverett Finance Committee. “Rural aid helps correct that deficiency.”
Local educators say stronger rural aid is essential to maintaining high-quality education in small communities. “Rural districts face structural cost challenges that larger systems simply don’t have, while our schools serve as the heart of community life in small towns,” said Siby Adina, principal of Leverett Elementary School.
The Leverett action was one of many grassroots efforts taking place across the state, this week as educators, families, and community leaders called on state officials to strengthen support for rural districts.