WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee Thursday heard the final rounds of fiscal year 2027 budget requests and heard why those — or any — discretionary increases in spending will be difficult in the year that begins July 1.

 

Williamstown Elementary Principal Benjamin Torres and middle-high school Principal Jake Schutz each presented the spending priorities formulated by their respective school councils. The requests followed a presentation by Lanesborough Elementary Principal Nolan Pratt at the January meeting.

 

Superintendent Joseph Bergeron then told the School Committee that state and federal aid to the district is going to be slightly lower than FY26 and reminded the panel that the district spent the last two years spending down its reserve accounts, as requested by the member towns, to the point where those reserves — School Choice, tuition and excess and deficiency — cannot be applied to the operating budget.

 

"Spending the exact same amount of money from this year to next year — that alone will mean a 4 percent increase [in appropriations] to each of our towns," Bergeron said. "That's the baseline on top of which everything else will happen.

 

"We know we're seeing an 8.75 percent increase in health insurance, but we also have an increasing number of employees who are taking our health insurance, so that health insurance line is increasing substantially. When it comes to out-of-district tuition as well as transportation, both of those are seeing marked increases as well."

 

District staff and the School Committee will further refine its FY27 budget over the next five weeks, with a budget workshop scheduled for Tuesday, March 3, and a public hearing and final budget vote on March 19.

 

The district's appropriations to Williamstown and Lanesborough, which each pay a proportional share of the prekindergarten-Grade 12 district's operating expenses, will face an up-or-down vote at each town's annual meeting, in May and June, respectively.

 

Each of the district's three school councils, committees of faculty, staff and family members in each building, advocate for the needs of their schools. Each winter, they inform the School Committee of those needs, which frequently come at a cost.

 

On Thursday, the principals from WES and Mount Greylock made their case to the elected committee.

 

Torres at WES was joined by School Council co-Chair Kareen Honecker. The pair shared three goals from the council's discussions: improving students' academic outcomes and support, access to technology and instructional resources and improving students' attendance.

 

The third goal has no potential budget impact. The other two would.

 

To advance the academic outcomes and support goal, the WES School Council is asking to add a math interventionist position and create a line item in the budget of $300 per teacher to, "ensure access to appropriate scaffolding tools, manipulatives, and materials that support diverse learners."

 

The technology request does not have a specific dollar figure yet because the school is still conducting a technology inventory, Torres told the School Committee. But he said the school is encountering technical difficulties with some of its classroom smartboards and there are rooms that do not have those boards.

 

"We want to ensure equitable and reliable access to that technology across the building," Torres said.

 

Pressed by School Committee member Jose Constantine to identify a top priority, Torres pointed to the math specialist.

 

"I will say one of the main things I feel all the teachers, as well as the administrative team feel strongly about is definitely the math interventionist," he said. "We feel in ELA [English Language Arts], we do pretty well with the reading specialist. We really are trying to provide a space where we can remediate some of the learning gaps [in math] we've seen in the data."

 

Schutz told the committee that the middle-high school's School Council also is looking for a new full-time equivalent teaching position for math. Mount Greylock also is seeking in the FY27 budget funding for three part-time posts that would add up to another FTE: a two-fifths position for the visual arts, a two-fifths "Tier 2 Interventionist" and a one-fifth social studies instructor.

 

"These are distinctively different roles requiring special skill sets and professional expertise," Schutz said of the three part-time positions requested. "Given differences in licensures, focus and responsibilities, it's highly unlikely a single individual would fill those needs. In addition, scheduling would exacerbate the feasibility of combining into one position. However, the School Council felt it appropriate to put this one there to make the School Committee aware there are needs in other departments, even though it doesn't rise to a full FTE."

 

Math, on the other hand, does.

 

Schutz told the committee that Mount Greylock currently has seven teachers in the math department teaching 18 courses across Grades 7 through 12. The school, which used to have a math interventionist on staff, is having trouble meeting the needs of a diverse student population, he said.

 

"Siliar to what [Torres] mentioned, we're wanting to continue to push our most advanced students while having appropriate classes for students who are not our most advanced scholars and having programs to help students who are struggling," Schutz said.

 

"The idea is this [proposed] math teacher would be able to [be an interventionist] in addition to coaching and pushing into some of our regular classes."

 

The Mount Greylock School Council also wanted to remind the School  Committee of budget needs raised in past years but still unmet, namely a full-time behaviorist to help the middle-high school implement its restorative justice practices and a 504 coordinator to manage Mount Greylock's 70 active 504 plans for students with disabilities.

 

"The main priority, if Jose was to ask me what the number one thing is, I'd stamp my feet and say the math position — not an interventionist, even though we'd use that position to do some interventions," Schutz said.

 

In other business on Thursday, the School Committee appointed a replacement for one of the district's representatives on the Northern Berkshire Regional Collaboration and/or Regionalization Group. Margo Neely, who previously was named by the School Committee, found that a scheduling conflict would inhibit her participation; the committee Thursday named Fred Puddester, another member of the town's Finance Committee, to take Neely's place.

 

And the School Committee finalized three changes to the district's policies. Two of those new or revised policies were amended to reflect community input shared with the School Committee this weekend.

 

The district's policy on meal modifications was changed to include language that the district will ensure meals that meet USDA standards, "at a minimum." And language was added to say the district recognizes, "the importance of a comprehensive district wellness program, and will regularly review and update relevant policies to reflect the evolving needs of our community."

 

A brand new policy on the use of artificial intelligence, meanwhile, was amended to include language requiring, "clear communication between staff and students on the permitted and prohibited use of AI," and developing, "points of contact and resources for students, staff, and families to support the appropriate and permitted use of AI in teaching and learning."

 

A third new policy voted on Thursday brings the district into alignment with state law on Parent Advisory Councils.