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Date: 4/11/2023
NORTHAMPTON — A large portion of a $2.3 million shortfall in the fiscal year 2024 budget for Northampton Public Schools is expected to be covered by the city’s stabilization fund, according to Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra.
In an announcement on April 4, Sciarra said she is prepared to use $1.2 million from the city’s stabilization fund to cover more than half of the $2.3 million shortfall as part of a two-year plan to balance the school budget and return to “strong” fiscal principles.
The deadline for the school budget to be included in the citywide budget is April 14, which means the School Committee and NPS leadership have until then to finalize a balanced budget that eliminates the other $1.1 million deficit. The full city budget will be delivered to the City Council on May 17.
According to Sciarra, the proposed FY24 budget will still require some budget cuts to address the deficit, but none of these cuts will lead to a significant loss of staff or programming.
“The school budget must be balanced using stable, recurring revenues to pay for recurring expenses,” Sciarra said.
Sciarra, the Northampton Association of School Employees, the district’s administrative leadership team, and the School Committee are planning to work together with state Sen. Jo Comerford and state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa to increase Chapter 70 state funding for NPS.
Andrea Egitto, the president of NASE, was grateful for Sciarra’s decision to use city reserves to cover a major portion of the school budget’s deficit.
“As the president of the Northampton Association of School Employees, I want to express my deepest gratitude to the mayor for stepping in to address the budget shortfall in our public schools,” said Egitto, in a statement. “Together, we are committed to retaining the highest quality staff and maintaining our vibrant school communities. We are eager to work with her to advocate for increased state funding for education and to make any necessary adjustments to the school budget without sacrificing the quality of education our students deserve.”
Gwen Agna, the vice chair of the School Committee, shared similar sentiments in a statement to Reminder Publishing about Sciarra’s plan and how the district and city are coming together to acquire more state funds.
“We are grateful for the mayor’s efforts to form a coalition of stakeholders and representatives to plug a significant portion of the deficit and to build a stabilization plan for the future,” she said. “It takes a village and ours is a strong and determined one.”
The mayor’s office stated that this deficit was created by relying on temporary emergency relief and money from the district’s School Choice fund, which comes from students who live outside Northampton and choose Northampton schools.
According to Sciarra, the deficit caused by relying on those funds cannot responsibly be solved through drastic cuts in a single year.
To ensure a balanced budget in FY25, Sciarra said she will ask the district’s administration to produce a plan with additional spending reductions by this December, which is earlier than usual during budget season.
This new plan will be produced under a new administration, which includes recently hired permanent superintendent Portia Bonner.
Bonner, whose most recent role included interim superintendent of Bozrah Public Schools in Bozrah, Conn., has expansive experience as a high school teacher, college instructor, school principal, head of curriculum and superintendent in multiple school districts across Massachusetts and Connecticut.
She said she is excited to work with the district and broader Northampton community.
“I am committed to ensuring that each and every child has equal access to opportunities and receives what they need to be successful. Working together, we can positively impact future generations,” she said in a statement.