Council Approves FY27 Budget with Additional Money for Elementary Schools
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Report on the Meeting of the Town Council, June 15, 2026, Part 1
This was a hybrid meeting held in the Town Room of Town Hall and was recorded.
Present: Mandi Jo Hanneke (president, at large), Jill Brevik and Cathy Schoen (District 1), Amber Cano-Martin and Lynn Griesemer (District 2), Hala Lord and George Ryan (District 3), Pam Rooney and Jennifer Taub (District 4), Ana Devlin Gauthier and Sam MacLeod (District 5), and Andy Churchill and Ellisha Walker (at large)
Staff: Dave Ziomek (assistant town manager), Sean Mangano (finance director), and Athena O’Keeffe (clerk of council)
After a 90-minute debate and several amendments, the Town Council unanimously passed the $92 million FY 2027 operating budget as recommended by the Finance Committee. The approved budget transfers $120,000 from the capital budget recommended by the town manager and allocates it to the elementary schools, which still leaves the elementary schools more than $300,000 short of the budget the School Committee voted for. The School Committee’s budget was $500,000 above what the town manager originally recommended, but because the regional assessment came in $70,000 lower than expected, that amount was added to the elementary schools.
Finance Director Sean Mangano said no decisions had been made as to which capital projects will be delayed due to the reduction in capital funds, but the town will discuss the needed cuts with department heads before making them.
Finance Committee Chair Cathy Schoen said the committee devoted two full meetings and held three votes on the elementary school budget before arriving at a unanimous decision to raise the amount recommended by Town Manager Paul Bockelman by $120,000. Finance Committee member Lynn Griesemer reluctantly agreed to the increase. The Finance Committee debate is detailed in Schoen’s 39-page report.
Schoen explained that an increase in incoming preschoolers with special needs required the creation of another preschool class, and the additional funding would help offset that expense and preserve the reading and math interventionist and specials positions — music, art, technology, physical education, and library — that were due to be reduced or eliminated. The school system is mandated to provide necessary services to all preschoolers with special needs. Although Schoen acknowledged that the council cannot direct the school superintendent in how to use the additional funds, Finance Committee member Jill Brevik noted that School Committee members were clear the funds would go to those positions.
The additional $120,000 was a compromise; some Finance Committee members had sought $250,000, while others wanted no increase beyond what Bockelman proposed.
Unless there is an operating budget override, any added funds to the schools must come from another part of the budget. The Finance Committee recommended drawing from the capital improvement fund.
Passionate Debate over Additional Funds for Elementary Schools
Council President Mandi Jo Hanneke attempted to block that action with a motion to leave the capital funds intact, sparking passionate arguments on both sides.
Griesemer defended her reluctance to vote for the Finance Committee proposal. “The previous Town Council passed a set of guidelines with some serious flexibility with regard to the schools,” she said. She noted that the guidelines allowed the extra $260,000 that had been added to FY2026 as a one-year allocation to be included in the FY27 budget if feasible—and that the town manager had added another $70,000 because the regional schools came in under budget. The superintendent produced a budget that complied with the guidelines, but the School Committee rejected it, she complained.
Griesemer added that more money could be coming to the schools through the Fair Share Amendment, which brought in more than expected this year. “I run the risk, by saying what I’ve said, of being told that I am anti-education, which could not be more untrue,” she said. “My reluctance comes from looking toward the future and looking at all the needs of this town, not just our schools.”
Schoen pointed out that even with the reduction, the capital budget increase over FY 2026 is 10.3%, within the budget guidelines of 10% to 10.5%.
Hanneke and Ryan were the most vocal in their opposition to reducing the capital budget to add funds to the elementary schools. Ryan reviewed Finance Committee budget reports from the past four years. He noted that in FY 2024 and FY 2025 the school budget was balanced using federal ESSER funds available as COVID relief, but those funds disappeared after FY 2025. He quoted the FY 2025 report: “The committee discussion focused on what is planned for FY 2026 and FY 2027 budgets when such funds will no longer be available. This includes potential savings when the new school opens in September 2026, yielding potential staffing efficiencies and reductions in operating expenses.” He argued that the ESSER money had been spent on recurring costs, creating a large deficit when those funds dried up.
“When does this stop?” Ryan asked. “When do we actually see a fiscal plan from the School Committee that recognizes the actual needs that this community has in a whole host of other areas?” He offered an example of the town not being able to hire another housing inspector because they could not purchase a car for the inspector’s use. And he noted that the town was unable to pay higher salaries to DPW workers to prevent them from leaving for higher pay in other towns.
Hanneke lamented the annual public battle over money between the school committees and the council. “The core tension is the School Committee is legally required to consider only the elementary schools. It has no mandate to weigh the needs of a fire department, the police, public health, public works, senior services — I could go on. I’m not calling the School Committee irresponsible. It is what the structure incentivizes and what their task is. But the manager and council are legally and morally responsible to the entire town. Keeping the Amherst School District’s budget in compliance with our own guidelines to fit fiscal reality is not heartlessness or uncaring for school children; it’s governance.” She added, “I feel like a vote to support an increase signals that the council doesn’t stand behind its own budget guidelines.”
Andy Churchill said that because of a Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) ruling, Amherst sixth graders cannot be part of the Regional Middle School, so there will still be three elementary schools next year: Crocker Farm, Amethyst Brook, and Chestnut Academy, the new sixth-grade academy located at the middle school. He also pointed out that maintaining the math and reading interventionists will most likely reduce special education costs in the future, and called the proposed shift in funds a good compromise.
Brevik said that with the school consolidation and the opening of the new school next year, many children may need help with the transition, and that this is not the time to cut staff. Ellisha Walker noted that it is already difficult for her children to receive the services they need, and that the transition will make it even harder.
Amber Cano-Martin said, “One of our top priorities, if not our very top priority, should be to educate our children. Despite all the terrible things that are happening at the federal level in terms of education funding, most of us are already engaged in fights to try to preserve public education. It is incumbent on us to do everything that we can to provide what our children need in terms of education. If we don’t provide them with the supports they need right now, that is going to catch up with us later, because they’re going to get to high school and they’re not going to have gotten the key skills they needed.”
Ana Devlin Gauthier said, “Please let go of the argument that we will not know how additional dollars will be spent by the schools. It is too easily and often used as a scapegoat to not fund the schools adequately. If someone wants that level of control over how dollars are spent in the school budget, they should run for school committee instead of town council. We do not dictate exact staffing in other areas. I feel [Hanneke’s motion] drives us further toward needing to go out for an override for our schools. Continuing to draw these rigid lines without considering the flexing of need over time is not going to help our community.” She noted that the Town Council unilaterally creates the budget guidelines without consulting the Budget Coordinating Group (BCG), which includes representatives from the schools and the library. The BCG meets only when called to do so by the town manager, and convenes rarely.
Griesemer remarked that the School Committee should be able to find $120,000 within its nearly $20 million budget. She accused the schools of identifying an issue “that you know the teachers and the public will cry ouch about, instead of finding other places [to save money].”
Devlin Gauthier responded, “I’m having a very strong reaction to the way that you just framed your comment. There are real humans in those jobs getting pink slips. Like you said, this occurs every year. If it’s been happening year over year, do you really think that there’s that much more to cut? Because at some point, it is going to hit the places that it’s hitting this year. We’ve seen student-facing, impactful roles getting cut.”
Hanneke’s motion to leave the capital budget intact was defeated 3-10, with only Hanneke, Griesemer, and Ryan voting in favor. Brevik moved to increase the additional school funding from $120,000 to $250,000, but that was defeated 4-9, with Brevik, Hala Lord, Cano-Martin, and Walker voting yes.
The Finance Committee’s original proposal to reduce the capital budget by $120,000 passed 10-3, with Hanneke, Ryan, and Griesemer voting against. The motion to add $120,000 to the elementary school budget passed 12-1, with only Hanneke voting no. The full operating budget was then approved unanimously.
Regional School Budget and Water and Sewer Rate Increases Approved
As part of the consent agenda, the council approved the regional school budget, as well as the water and sewer rate increases presented at the May 4 Town Council meeting. Effective July 1, the water rate will increase from $6.45 to $6.75 per 100 cubic feet, and the sewer rate will increase from $6.95 to $7.30 per 100 cubic feet.