Additional ELL Teacher to be added at Crocker Farm

Report on the Meeting of the Amherst School Committee, October 6, 2026

The meeting was held in the High School library. It was recorded.

Present: Deb Leonard (Chair), Andrew Hart, Laura Jane Hunter, Sarah Marshall. Absent: Bridget Hynes

Staff: E. Xiomara Herman (Dr. Xi, Superintendent)

The Amherst School Committee met briefly on October 6 and discussed a request by Superintendent Dr. Xiomara Herman to approve two staffing changes:

1. An increase of 0.20 FTE to the existing 0.40 FTE Intervention Teacher position at Amethyst Brook Elementary School, resulting in a total of 0.60 FTE; and 

2. The creation and posting of a 1.0 FTE English Language Learner Teacher position at Crocker Farm Elementary School.

In a memo to the committee, Dr. Xi wrote that “the requests respond to actual enrollment, student data, and service needs identified since the opening of the 2026-2027 school year.” In addition, she noted:, “The administration has reviewed the FY27 budget and determined that the cost of these positions can be absorbed within the approved Amherst operating budget through the existing teaching-position contingency, current vacancy savings, and active expenditure management. No increase to the approved FY27 budget is being requested.” 

Before voting on the request, committee Chair Deb Leonard and member Laura Jane Hunter raised concerns about the budgeting process, noting the ability of the district to absorb the cost of these staffing changes within the FY27 operating budget while painful cuts had been made to items such as classroom supplies. Leonard asked if those reductions could be restored “if we have that kind of cushion.” Dr. Xi suggested they could come back to it after quarter two or three when they know more about how expenditures are tracking. Leonard asked that another meeting be added this fall to have more discussion about next year’s budget and the committee’s priorities. Dr. Xi responded that the leadership is revamping the budget process, that it is committed to communicating better, and mindful of the anxiety the budget process causes.

The staffing request was approved unanimously with one member absent [Bridget Hynes].

Non-Amherst members of the Regional School Committee joined the meeting, which then adjourned to executive session “to discuss the reputation, character, physical condition or mental health, rather than professional competence, of an individual, or to discuss the discipline or dismissal of, or complaints or charges brought against, a public officer, employee, staff member or individual, with no intent to return to Open Session.”