Weeks after the Northampton Association of School Employees announced their “no confidence” vote in Superintendent Dr. Portia Bonner, the city’s school committee approved an official statement detailing its support for the head of Northampton Public Schools.
It comes as the city deals with a budget situation that has dragged into the new fiscal year.
Following a lengthy executive session on Wednesday, June 26, members of the committee, including Northampton Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra, approved the language responding to the teachers’ union.
Acknowledging the NASE’s June 12 vote, and its subsequent presentation to the committee, the statement detailed how the committee will continue to back Bonner, noting she is still in the process of completing her first, full school year at Northampton Public Schools after being named superintendent in March 2023.
“As a school committee, we have heard the concerns of NASE, and are responding to affirm our commitment to support Dr. Bonner and to work with our larger school community to chart a path forward for our district,” Sciarra read from the statement ahead of its approval vote. “Dr. Bonner was hired with high hopes and community support during a turbulent time in Northampton Public Schools. She is the third superintendent in as many years, and has not finished her first year or been evaluated by the committee.”
The NASE’s “no confidence” vote came about as city leaders continued to debate and attempted to approve a budget for FY25.
In the months leading up to the city council taking up the budget, officials like Sciarra and Bonner made the case that going into the next fiscal year, Northampton Public Schools would be facing a steep deficit of over $4.5 million.
Similar to surrounding school districts, the upcoming end of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief or ESSER funds played a role in the shortfall, as well as increased staffing and other factors laid out in Sciarra’s budget presented to the council.
In December, the “Superintendent’s Preliminary Budget Review” detailed how the school department would request a budget of $40.7 million, while suggesting significant reductions in full-time equivalent staff roles.
In April, though, the school committee ultimately approved a $42.8 million budget that advocates said would avoid cuts and maintain level services. Before the vote, Bonner referred to the plan as “untenable,” while Sciarra abstained from voting.
A month later, the mayor presented a budget to the city council that featured $39.6 million for schools, with later amendments boosting it to around $40.7 – an 8 percent increase compared to the year prior.
Throughout the process, members of the NASE voiced their frustrations with the proposal, saying even with the amendments, around 20 positions would likely be eliminated at NPS.
It came to a head at a school committee meeting in mid-June when NASE president Andrea Egitto presented the union’s decision.
“We are fully aware of the gravity of this situation, but educators can no longer stand by and watch unnecessary and deep cuts to services, staff and programs that students need and deserve for a rich, fulfilling education," the union leader said.
In a statement, the NASE said the superintendent should “be the chief advocate for our public schools and for the staff and services students need to thrive,” and that Bonner failed to do so, and was also “an architect of cutting staff and programs.”
The statement drafted and approved by the committee Wednesday acknowledges that there is work to be done when it comes to mending relations with the school community following this year’s budget season.
"We remain committed to Dr. Bonner's success - at the same time, we acknowledge there has been a fracture in trust within the school community, and reestablishing this will require work on behalf of both the superintendent and the school committee," the statement read. "Our school committee is ultimately responsible for evaluating the work of the superintendent, and that work is currently in process."
Sciarra previously said the budget featured a number of tough decisions. Approving it also posed a tough decision for the city council in late June.
Following debates and public comments, the city councilors came up short when trying to pass the amended spending plan of around $137 million last week.
The initial mid-May budget proposed by Sciarra has since gone into effect per state law, minus the amendments from the mayor that would have boosted funding for schools.
A special city council meeting is slated for Tuesday night, with a hope of adopting the $1.1 million in amendments.
That includes $737,000 from the city’s Fiscal Stability Stabilization Fund, $200,000 from the Special Education Stabilization Fund, and over $166,000 in funds from a gift from Smith College.
