AGAWAM — While many communities in the region struggle to approve school budgets that don’t put services, resources, programs and teaching positions on the chopping block, the Agawam School Committee has once again avoided that scenario.
At its April 28 meeting the committee approved a $55.1 million budget for fiscal year 2027 presented by Superintendent Sheila Martin that has no cuts to staff, services resources or programs.
The new budget increases school spending by 2.80% from the FY26 budget of $53.5 million. The difference between the budgets is $1.5 million. In April 2025, the committee approved a FY26 budget increase of 3.78%.
Martin told the committee that the FY27 budget is “strategically designed” to support the district’s core values and priorities, rather than a list of cost centers. “This budget holistically outlines an investment in our most valuable asset: our educators and the resources they need to deliver high quality instruction to every student every day,” said Martin.
She said the FY27 budget prioritizes three interconnected areas of instructional success: professional time with colleagues, high-quality instructional materials and high-quality professional development.
“Research consistently shows that teacher collaboration is a primary driver of student growth. In the FY27 budget, we are restructuring our scheduling models to protect and prioritize professional learning communities, and this comes in different forms across the different schools.”
Martin said the intention is to maximize collaboration time when teachers are already working with high quality instructional materials. “This budget continues the district’s commitment toward evidence based, rigorous curricula that are aligned with state standards.”
Beyond physical textbooks, Martin said this budget supports adaptive digital platforms that provide real time feedback to students and actionable data to teachers. In addition, the district will continue to provide consistent K-12 literacy and math assessments throughout the year. Reoccurring costs of manipulative kits, lab supplies and workbooks have been factored into the budget.
Martin said new materials are only as effective as the instruction behind them. She said the FY27 professional development strategy shifts toward continued, sustained job embedded coaching. This includes instructional rounds in all the district’s eight schools throughout the year, providing the beneficial opportunity for educators to learn from one another. It also includes 14 instructional coaching positions throughout the district to lead the embedded professional development.
The FY27 budget also continues a commitment to use data driven decision making through data collection and analysis for use in instructional and social emotional interventions.
The drivers of the $1.5 million increase include:
- Salary increases: $456,222 (2.5 % COLA, longevity, degrees changes, steps)
- Transportation: $260,284
- Special services out of district tuitions: $722,927
- Information Technology: $114,508
- Athletics, $4,000
- Regular ed out of district programs: $40,116
- Increases to building based budgets: $15,010
Following the superintendent’s presentation on the proposed budget, Mayor Christopher Johnson, the committee chair, opened a public hearing on the budget. When no one came forward to speak in support or opposition to the budget, the hearing was closed.
At the end of the hearing, the committee proceeded to vote on the proposed budget. The vote to approve it was six in favor, with Mayor Johnson abstaining. Several committee members also commented on the FY27 budget.
School Committee member A.J. Christopher, chair of the budget/finance subcommittee that helped to prepare the budget, said the cost of three factors that the committee can’t control — salaries, transportation and out of district tuition — cost the district $1.45 million, accounting for most of this year’s budget increase.
“The fact that we were able to retain all our staff, continue to put the programs out there with costs that are out of our control is just a great testament to how well we prepared these budgets year after year after year, especially when you look at the surrounding communities that are having five, six, seven percent budget conversations, looking for all these overrides and laying off teachers left and right.”
Christopher added that it was the district’s “great use” of money received during COVID and all the grants that were applied for and awarded that have helped to make a difference with the budgets.
He also said Agawam is one of seven districts that participate in bus service provided by the Lower Pioneer Valley Education Collaborative. The cost of the service is split among those districts.
Christopher said Agawam has consolidated its routes to make bus runs more efficient. “So, that’s a pretty big thing to highlight. A lot of the public has been saying transportation cost is just ridiculous, because we don’t see a lot of people on the busses. We’re continuing to work on that.”
Committee member Shelley Borgatti-Reed thanked the superintendent and her staff for a “fiscally responsible” budget. “We keep our staff. our services. We’re still able to add resources and programs that benefit our students. That’s pretty hard to do with the rising costs of things, and some of our surrounding towns are not in as good a shape as we are.”
Michael Perry, a member of the Budget/Finance Subcommittee, said the regular out of district education increase, is attributable to a lot of students going into the trades that Agawam has to send out to other districts and pay the tuitions for them. “That’s something I think everybody here generally supports, is kids getting an education that’ll help them in the future. So, overall, a 2.8% increase in an economy where we’ve seen inflation sort of out of control is extremely impressive.”
The budget now heads to the City Council to be incorporated into the town’s FY27 budget. Residents can view the school budget on cable Channel 15. It’s also available for the public to review at the Agawam Public Library, the city clerk’s office at Town Hall and the superintendent’s office at the AJHS. It also will be posted on the district’s website, agawamed.org.
