PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council closed budget season just before 10 p.m. on Tuesday, approving a $216 million spending plan for fiscal year 2025. This includes a cut to the School Department.

Councilors approved a $215,955,210 spending plan that is a 5 percent increase from this year and includes a $200,000 reduction to the $82 million Pittsfield Public School budget. The budget passed 10-1 with Ward 2 Councilor Brittany Noto in opposition.

All conversation was related to the schools, as droves of staff members came to council chambers believing this was a direct slash to positions. It was agreed that misinformation sparked the uprising and was attributed to a "divide" between the school district and the council.

"The amount of misinformation that happened, I don't want to dig into how it happened but it is concerning," Ward 6 Councilor Dina Lampiasi said.

"And when I look at the emails that I received over the last several days from parents and people who are in the School Department, it's apparent to me that there is a divide here and there are a lot of people that agree with us that something isn't working."

Councilor at Large Earl Persip III emphasized that there should be a focus on communication — noting that Superintendent Joseph Curtis has communicated more than previous holders of his title.

"I think there is something missing from what you guys have said to us and from what we hear and that's where we struggle," he said.

Curtis maintained that a staff email he sent out was purely informational and did not make unsound claims, noting that "certainly this was an incredibly complex budget season." The FY25 spending plan includes the reduction of 53 positions, some related to the sunsetting of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds.

"There was no negativity put forward," he said. "There was a recounting of what happened and some possible next steps in the process because I feel it's incredibly important for the school community to know the process."

He read a part of the June 7 communication, noting that he had communicated Councilor at Large Kathy Amuso's wish to reduce deans.

"The Pittsfield City Council meet on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, to approve the total city budget. It is important to know that a motion could be made to reduce departments' allocation by any amount desired by the council," Curtis wrote to PPS staff.

He agreed to provide councilors with the communication and any others.

"It kind of sounds like what may have happened is a little game of telephone," Ward 7 Councilor Rhonda Serre said, adding "That type of hysteria is not good for anybody."

Councilors reiterated that the $200,000 cut was aimed at the Mercer Administration Building or non-personnel line items and that they do not have line-item control over the reductions.

"I, in no way, support or suggest that any staff member loses their job because of such a minuscule budget cut, especially, especially, the critical role of deans and support staff within the schools, absolutely critical role," Serre said.

"And I don't know how it became a focus that we had said 'dean of students got to go.' From where I stood, absolutely not. That's not what I was voting for or supporting at all. I'm really disappointed that the misinformation was allowed to rise to a level that it did."

Persip, who proposed the $200,000 reduction a couple of weeks ago, said there are teachers and administrators who agree that something needs to change.

He pointed out that the school budget has risen by $20 million since 2020.

"Why was there a teacher here almost in tears at open mic, thinking he was going to lose his job? Because what we asked for was to take cuts from the Mercer building or to look at creative ways to save 1.2 percent, whatever it was," he said.

"We were very clear when this council made that cut that we did not want to take people out of the school buildings But we have a roomful of people here that heard otherwise. Where did they hear that from?"

John Moreno, a social-emotional learning coach at Taconic High School, said the decision would either cut his position or save it.

"We are often the first responders for student dysregulation," he said. "When they're hungry, we feed them, when they're walking the halls, we ask them why instead of simply barking orders."

Mayor Peter Marchetti reported that he cut the school's original proposal by $400,000. He pointed to the challenge of delivering a close-to-level funded budget based on a request made by the council during his first week in office.

"When we sit here and we say every department has struggled and every department has taken their shots, the School Department did as well …"

"This is a communication to the members of the City Council and members of the school community that are still here: I am going to continue to try to make the city one Pittsfield and when we have our public meetings, we should do our utmost job and leave the other bodies alone because we wouldn't be here tonight if there wasn't for public comments that were made at a School Committee meeting."

Persip pointed to "unprofessional" comments made at a School Committee meeting following its departmental budget deliberation at which unsuccessful motions were made to reduce the school budget by $730,000 and $250,000.

"I struggled with [the budget,] I thought about it, and then I had to hear phone calls about I should watch the meeting, I should watch the School Committee meeting," he said.

"So I watched it and I struggled even more. So again, you're right. If the comments weren't made, I probably would have just struggled and kept my mouth shut."

The council also approved:

• A five-year Capital Improvement Plan for the fiscal years 2025-2029.
• An order amending Order 56 of the Series of 2023, appropriating the amount of $851,102.34 for the FY24 Community Preservation Fund Budget.
• An order appropriating the amount of $808,547.00 from the FY24 Community Preservation Fund Budget.
• An order appropriating the amount of $602,555.00 for the FY25 Community Preservation Fund Budget.
• An order appropriating $2,500,000.00 from certified free cash to reduce the FY25 tax rate.
• An order to borrow an aggregate sum not exceeding $10,192,500.00 for General Fund capital expenditures for FY25.
• An order to borrow and aggregate sum not to exceed $7,700,000.00 for Enterprise Fund Capital Expenditures for FY25.
• An order authorizing the use and expenditure of the city's current revolving funds pursuant to MGL, Chapter 44, Section 53E ½ for FY25.
• An order appropriating $249,600.00 for parking-related expenditures pursuant to MGL, Chapter 40, Sections 21A-22C for FY25 beginning July 1, 2024.

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