Amherst School Committee Meeting Tonight, Jan. 19: Budget Discussion

There will be a meeting of the Elementary School Committee tonight at 7pm in the High School Library. Included in the items on the agenda will be a discussion of $1 million in budget cuts for next year.

I've copied a short article from today's Daily Hampshire Gazette below:

School board to discuss cuts tonight

By Nick Grabbe

AMHERST - Struggling elementary school students could lose support if the district can't find extra money, according to a cut list distributed last week.
The Amherst School Committee will discuss the new prioritized cut list at its meeting tonight at 7 in the high school library.
"This process is not celebratory," said Superintendent Alberto Rodriguez. "Anything we cut is painful. It's, What kind of intense pain do we leave for last?' It's not like there won't be casualties."
If next year's funding were the same as this year's, the elementary schools would still have to spend about $1 million less than if services were kept constant. That's because of rising costs, especially for teacher salaries.
An estimated $582,997 of that $1 million will come from the closing of Mark's Meadow School.
The rest will come from cutting $210,341 from the operating budget, including four classroom teachers, and $278,431 from the central office, according to the cut list.
To avoid cutting more deeply, the schools would need some combination of a tax override, more state aid than expected, and/or givebacks of negotiated salary increases. If none of that money arrives, the equivalent of almost 10 more positions could be lost.
Most of those employees currently deal with students in need: intervention specialists, a psychologist, special education teachers and those helping students who don't speak English well.
"I don't want to be put in the position to cut things for the most vulnerable," said School Committee member Irv Rhodes. "These are the ones who can least afford it. This is very troubling." He added that the majority of those affected would be boys.
In spite of the need for cuts, the budget includes three new preschool positions, which Rodriguez has called a priority.
Also on the cut list is one position in instructional technology. "This would take us backwards to the level of technology at least a decade ago," said Rodriguez.