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Date: 9/6/2022
AMHERST – The Amherst School Committee met via Zoom on Aug. 31 to recap summer programs, discuss budgeting and provide updates on ongoing issues within the district.
The meeting began with Superintendent Michael Morris reviewing recent events and milestones. Project Backpack saw over 500 backpacks distributed to students free of charge, the majority of which were donated by the Rotary Club of Amherst. Morris noted that high school students returned to their elementary schools to work with the younger students; roughly 90 students attended the summer program at Crocker Farm, while other high schoolers led English Language Learner workshops.
Ten former paraprofessionals were hired as teachers and provided with comprehensive de-escalation training to prepare them for their new roles. More carpet has been removed at Wildwood Elementary, aiding in better air quality. Doors in Amherst schools were outfitted with special “Columbine locks,” which lock from the inside. These locks make it easier to secure classrooms in the event of a school shooting or other shelter-in-place situations. Vaccine clinics continued throughout the summer, and educators were trained to implement new math curriculums. Two grants have been filed for electric school buses. Amherst was not considered a priority district, so additional funding would be required if the grants are awarded.
After brief updates from the chair and the rest of the committee, Morris outlined his goals for fiscal year 2023 (FY23) . The transition of sixth graders to Amherst Regional Middle School (ARMS) was first on his list, with aims to complete the draft plan by Jan 1, 2023, and complete the staffing plan by March 1. Advancing development of the elementary school building project was next, followed by successful implementation of the new iReady Math curriculum. He said greater public and municipal engagement with the budgeting process with the idea that solicitation of feedback regarding budgeting decisions should become standard practice to inform said decisions. Finally, he said he will continue the district’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) by hiring, retaining and promoting more individuals of color in positions of influence throughout the district.
The district’s Caminantes program is growing and maintaining high retention rates, according to the district’s English Language Learner Program Coordinator Katie Richardson. The program enables students to learn in English for half the day, and Spanish for the other half. It aims for an even blend of native Spanish speakers and non-Spanish speakers. This year the program includes six school-choice students coming from outside of Amherst.
Moving on to budget review, the district’s Finance Director Doug Slaughter explained that this year’s expenses to date constituted 99.2 percent of the total budget. The remaining .8 percent or $190,072 was returned to the town. This was an improvement over last year’s 2.8 percent remainder.
Also included the budget discussion was the debate of what to do regarding the charter school cost distribution model. Committee member Peter Demling described the two existing models: Most towns in Massachusetts utilize a model wherein the cost of the town’s charter school(s) is absorbed by the town, meaning the cost comes out of the entire municipal budget. However, Amherst is one of the few towns in the state which makes the school district absorb the cost, meaning the other public schools in the district lose out on some funding. The FY23 charter school tuition costs in Amherst stand at $1.6 million, and some members of the community feel that the rest of Amherst Regional Public Schools (ARPS) should not miss out on this funding. The committee is currently deciding whether to ask the town of Amherst to change its policy, or to remain within the current system.
The transition of sixth graders to ARMS is still in its development stages as the committee irons out the details. A list of recommendations was drafted by Morris and presented to the public for feedback. These include the “school-within-a-school” concept (making the sixth grade its own department within the school’s infrastructure), a two-teacher model (one for the humanities, another for the STEM block) and separate bathrooms to decrease contact between sixth graders and seventh and eighth graders. Some feedback has already been generated. Most parents’ concerns revolve around safety and recess times. Many worry about potential bullying risks from older students, and feel that sixth graders (usually 11 years old) should receive active outdoor recess to play with their friends, and regular movement breaks between classes.
“There’s a lot of emotion around this transition” said committee Chair Allison McDonald.
Morris went on to detail the new elementary school building plan is continuing development. Architects have been meeting with education specialists to refine the plan in regards to classroom design, building materials and special education classrooms. Ground-source heat pumps have been selected for the project, with Eversource offering a “generous incentive as long as we hit an energy efficiency (EUA) of 25 or better” said Morris. The proposed gender-neutral bathrooms are mostly single-stall, which requires taking up more of the proposed total square footage, which is still the same. As such, other departments are reconfiguring their layouts to accommodate this spatial deficit. These issues and several others will be discussed at the next Building Committee meeting on Sept. 9.