Amherst Town Meeting voted last week to appropriate an additional $30,000 to the Amherst Elementary School budget with the intent of fully restoring the elementary library paraprofessional positions that had initially been cut from the budget but were later restored to 0.6 FTE.
The School Committee and administration are not bound to use the money as intended by Town Meeting, as Town Meeting only has the authority to approve the total budget amount, not to edit line items. Coverage from the Daily Hampshire Gazette is here:
For a more detailed analysis of the issue, discussion, and vote, please see the following report written by Town Meeting Member and Wildwood PGO member/parent Laura Quilter:
https://wildwoodpgo.com/2016/05/04/town-meeting-schools-report-tm-appropriates-extra-funds-to-support-school-library-paraprofessionals/