WILBRAHAM — The Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District sent fiscal year 2026 assessment letters to both towns ahead of their spring town meetings, when the budget will be up for a vote. In a budget season full of tough decisions, however, the School Committee still questioned whether to adjust the assessments in hopes of earning good will and avoiding an us-versus-them funding situation.
EAST LONGMEADOW — East Longmeadow is on track to present a balanced fiscal year 2026 budget for review by the April 1 home rule charter deadline. At the March 25 Town Council meeting, Town Manager Tom Christensen said each of the town’s departments have been directed to adhere to a level service budget to keep the town from having to use a portion of its excess levy capacity, which functions as a financial cushion.
LONGMEADOW — The Longmeadow Select Board got its first look at the fiscal year 2026 town budget, which closed a projected shortfall of more than $700,000 through level service funding and a cut in recommended capital projects.
SPRINGFIELD — A hallway at the D’Amour Fine Arts Museum in Springfield is lined with portraits of Indigenous people. Those who have gone missing, those who care for them and those who have been silenced.
AMHERST — The Healey administration’s education leadership was grilled by the Joint Ways & Means Committee in front of a standing room-only crowd at a hearing on school funding and local aid, hosted by the University of Massachusetts Amherst.