AGAWAM — There are layoffs and user fee increases for athletics coming to many school districts in the region for the 2025-26 school year. However, Agawam is not one of them.
In Agawam’s proposed fiscal year 2026 school budget, there are no new user fees or increases and no layoffs of staff are planned. But the district does face some funding challenges. They include the loss of federal COVID-19 relief funding — the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds and potential federal education funding cuts of more $2 million by the Trump administration. Agawam is also dealing with its new high school project as well as ongoing salary negotiations.
Despite these challenges, Agawam is still in better fiscal shape than some other districts in the area.
According to Wendy Rua, who chairs the budget/finance subcommittee, Agawam is “fortunate” to be a district that has been fiscally responsible with its budgets throughout the years — and that has led it down a good budget path.
The district’s preliminary spending plan was presented by Superintendent Sheila Martin at the School Committee’s April 15 meeting. Spending for schools will increase by just over $1.6 million for the 2025-26 school year if the proposed budget of $53.5 million is approved by the School Committee and the City Council.
During her brief presentation, Martin said the FY26 budget as proposed totals $53.6 million — an increase of 3.06%. In comparison. the increase from FY24 to FY25 was 3.78%.
According to Martin, the FY26 budget doesn’t eliminate any programs while continuing a commitment to make decisions for students based on data collection and analysis for use in instructional as well as social and emotional interventions.
“This budget continues to support the evolving needs of our students and also includes additional fixed costs, such as degree changes, stipends, an increase in transportation and an increase in career technical education tuition,” said Martin.
There is an increase of $235,707 in the districtwide software budget as well as a $74,207 hike — a 3.5% increase — to transportation costs by the Lower Pioneer Valley Educational Collaborative, which provides bus transportation. There is also an increase of $120,933 by LPVEC and Westfield Technical Academy for vocational education tuition for Agawam students.
The initial budget increase — which includes an increase for cost-of-living adjustments, longevity payments, degree changes and steps for teachers that total $1.580 — was $2.01 million. It was pared down by $372,501 for an actual proposed increase of $1.64 million.
Martin said areas of the budget were reviewed for possible reductions in order to be “fiscally responsible.” Reductions included $18,822 to building-based budgets, $3,679 to information technology and $350,000 to Special Services tuitions.
Budget highlights stated by Martin include:
- A “priority focus” on academic needs of students with an emphasis on early literacy, including “high dosage” tutoring and increased engagement with families
- Maintaining an appropriate student-teacher ratio, providing educators with the embedded professional development, access to instructional coaching and collaboration
- Support systems to help staff meet the ever-growing and diverse needs of students, through differentiated personalized instruction
- Maintaining high expectations for all students while providing the supports needed for them to be successful.
School Committee members will likely adopt the proposed budget at their April 29 meeting since none of the five members present at the April 15 meeting raised any concerns or objections about the proposed budget. When the budget is adopted, it will go to the City Council to be incorporated into the town’s FY26 budget.
Residents can tune to cable Channel 15 to view the proposed budget and can attend a public hearing to make comments. The hearing is scheduled for April 29, from 6:30 to 7 p.m. at the Agawam Junior High School auditorium. At the hearing, the committee will vote on the proposed FY26 budget. The school is located at 1305 Springfield St., Feeding Hills.
Once approved, the school budget will be available for the public to view 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.
