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Date: 5/31/2022
EASTHAMPTON – During a meeting on May 24, the Easthampton superintendent, School Committee, and residents expressed contempt for Mayor Nicole LaChapelle’s fiscal year 2023 (FY23) budget proposal for education.
The School Committee voted 6-0-1 for an education operational budget of $18.5 million for FY23, which is a 7.91 percent increase from last year. The committee approved this allocation a second time after LaChapelle raised questions about whether the committee followed proper procedures under the city charter the first time around. Regardless, the outcome was the same, and LaChapelle abstained from voting to not interfere with the School Committee’s desire to submit their desired budget.
In LaChapelle’s recently proposed overall city budget of $48.5 million, however, the school budget is instead proposed at $17.89 million, which is a 4.63 percent increase to the operating budget and a 0.79 percent increase to overall school funding. Residents, Superintendent Allison LeClair, and all School Committee members took issue with this proposal, especially because LaChapelle’s budget proposed a line that offered close to $366,000 less in personnel services.
“A 0.79 percent increase to school education at a time of crisis in our community is completely and utterly unacceptable,” said School Committee member Marin Goldstein. “And so, I ask the City Council, you are now the next step. This is your time to stand up and say ‘no,’ this budget is not acceptable.”
In her statements, School Committee Chair Cynthia Kwiecinski said that the school budget is very “staff-driven” because staff is the most integral facet to keep schools running. According to Kwiecinski and other committee members, LaChapelle’s proposed education budget represents a possible cut of five to eight Easthampton Public Schools (EPS) staff.
“That is appalling,” said Kwiecinski. “This is the first time I am looking at a budget where the mayor is actually rewriting the staff line with a massive cut of five to eight teachers. It is horrible during a pandemic.”
Kwiecinski also argued that the School Committee has never been able to go in front of the City Council and ask for free cash when needed, while other departments are able to do that. Kwiecinski also claimed that the mayor would not look at a special appropriation for the school department unless the department drains their reserves dry.
“I am a teacher … I am in the trenches every day,” said School Committee member Laurie Garcia. “I have seen what this pandemic has done to students across this country, across the world. We cannot have fewer resources in line for students, nor for our educators.”
Garcia said during the meeting that she understands money from the city’s Cannabis Stabilization Fund cannot be used for education but argued that it could be used for other departments in the city, while other monetary resources can be used for education.
LeClair also shared concerns about the mayor’s proposed budget for education and emphasized the importance of school staff that worked “tirelessly” to accommodate the social and emotional needs of students during a challenging last couple of years, due to the pandemic.
“Children still have gaps in education, and academic intervention is essential for them to reach their potential,” said LeClair. “The social and emotional challenges of being isolated for so long during the pandemic has an overwhelming impact on our children and working through that will take years. We adjusted to decreases in our budget repeatedly. To not fully fund our moderate education budget at this time in our community is beyond comprehension.
“At a critical time in our schools, to expect us to eliminate teachers in needed academic interventions, [it] will have a negative impact on the students we serve,” LeClair continued. “This cut would impact all staff, students and families, but most of all our vulnerable students who really need the academic and therapeutic support to succeed in school.”
According to LeClair, the district did however get reimbursed for $240,000 of expenses in the early phase of the coronavirus pandemic through Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reimbursement programs. The department also received Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds to support pandemic issues and used most of it to cover staffing shortages.
For the next year, the school will receive $1.6 million in ESSER funding, which the department plans to split in half for FY23 and FY24. According to LeClair, the ESSER funds are being used to offset the operating budget, rather than for emergency services, for which it was intended.
Regarding the school reserve fund, LeClair said they function as the school’s stabilization fund for emergency situations. The School Committee strives to keep a reserve equal to the prior year’s grant monies received, which is a common practice done throughout the state. According to LeClair, the reserve revenue has been declining over the past few years, and the city has not been able to cover the entirety of the school’s operating budget for “several years.”
“Reducing our budget at any level is a loss to the children we serve,” said LeClair. “It’s also a loss to some of the hardest working essential workers in our community.”
In response to people’s concerns about her budget proposal, LaChapelle said the city’s reserve accounts need to include every department, including the schools, and by law the school department is allowed to go to City Council and ask for an appropriation of money, if needed. She also encouraged the school district to take a joint vote with the City Council and determine a stabilization account for the school department.
“To think that you cannot come back [to City Council] to ask for money is on its face incorrect, by law,” said LaChapelle.
According to LaChapelle, the stabilization accounts throughout the city are at an all-time high because they are “looking at some things [they] don’t know after COVID[-19], including the condition of [our] students and teachers.” The mayor ultimately suggested that the school department should use their reserve funds, since it is not defined as a stabilization account yet, before going to City Council for an appropriation if it is needed. School Committee members, however, said that spending their reserves down to “0” is something they cannot do. School Committee member Meghan Harvey said members are trained to not spend those reserves down.
As for claims that she is trying to cut staffing, LaChapelle said those determinations are not under her jurisdiction, but rather schools’ administration team. Basically, she can give an amount of money to the department but cannot “direct” what gets cut or added. “Nowhere in my [budget] letter did I say there would be cuts to personnel services,” said LaChapelle, referring to the letter she sent out in February to all city departments. “[I] specifically asked to just put everything you have in, plus everything you might know, for the next fiscal year.”
According to LaChapelle’s proposed budget, around $12.8 million would be allocated for personnel services, while the School Committee’s requested budget line for personnel is $13.2 million. LaChapelle said that her budget line was smaller because there is staff that is going to be added on and paid through grants.
“I do not feel like I shorted the schools,” said LaChapelle. “I do feel there is a misunderstanding of how the school budget is put together, and what the tradition is.”
LaChapelle also suggested that the School Committee resubmit the budget based on the template she provided in her original letter back in February so both sides can be on the same page. She said the committee did not follow the template she provided, which includes a tidbit that asked departments to use the FY22 approved department expense budget amount to prepare three versions of their department expense budget with 1, 2 and 3 percent increases.
According to Harvey, there were more than 87 correspondents sent to the committee with concerns about the mayor’s proposed education line in the budget, including many from parents and teachers.
Kwiecinski said she hopes that the City Council, mayor and School Committee meet in the near future to figure this problem out before the public hearing on the overall city budget occurs. “We need to be a team,” said Kwiecinski. “We are going to fight to not get rid of staff.”
LaChapelle said she would be putting together a document with more budgetary information, and why she made certain budget decisions. Ultimately, the City Council does not need to vote for the budget, as presented.
The Finance Committee public hearing will be June 2. People can learn more about this conversation by watching the full meeting at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n641MYGOJWM.