Northampton Public Schools budget shortfalls and how to fill them proved to be one of the most contentious items heading into the new fiscal year.
Facing what Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra referred to as a $4.77 million deficit at one point, NPS ultimately received an 8 percent increase in funding for fiscal year 2025 while also weathering around 20 roles being cut – a point of protest by locals, advocates and members of both the school committee and city council highlighted for months.
Citing a desire to keep various teaching and support staff roles intact, the school committee passed a larger “level service budget” of $42.8 million but ultimately, the mayor’s almost $41 million amended budget prevailed.
The debates played out over the first half of the year, including protests and a “Fund Our Schools” movement gaining steam among community members.
Looking to get ahead of another potential school budget showdown, both the city council and school committee are considering their options.
“Our last item on the agenda tonight is a discussion of a request from school committee to form a four- to six-person collaborative work group between the school committee and the city council to discuss and make recommendations for actions to address future budget shortfalls,” said City Council President Alex Jarrett on Thursday, Aug. 15.
At its latest meeting, the school committee approved a request to create the special work group. Speaking at the time of the item’s introduction was Ward 7 School Committee member Kerry LaBounty.
“We come to the budget … with kind of set ideas, and I am hoping that by collaborating, having a smaller group - that we can take the armor down a little bit, because when we have some of these conversations around budget, people come in very armored-up, and that's not when you do your best thinking about when and how to go about what's creative,” the committee member said Thursday, Aug. 8.
A week later, among the councilors receptive to the proposal was Ward 4 Councilor Jeremy Dubs.
Dubs, who had joined community members and Northampton Association of School Employees in their protests during the thick of budget season, expressed interest in the group – noting that there had been a desire to collaborate further with the school committee earlier in the year, even as the budget debate was heating up.
“I know that we haven't talked about the process yet, like how we're going to go about deciding who would be on it, but [I] just wanted to throw it out there that I'd be willing to do that, and, I like the idea too," Dubs said.
Logistics and other details are not settled. How the working group or committee might be staffed, where funding for it might come from if needed, as well as whether it wouldn’t be better served as a series of collaborative meetings all came up.
For now, as Jarrett concluded, discussions will be ongoing.
“I put this forward as a discussion - we heard a lot of good ideas here, not a clear consensus, as far as I'm hearing,” the council president said towards the end of the meeting. “So, we could have further discussion, councilors could bring a proposal to a future meeting and then we can discuss that proposal or amend it. So, there's a bunch of different ways we can move forward.”
