EAST LONGMEADOW — Days after meeting with the Financial Oversight Committee as part of its efforts to find potential money-saving opportunities in the municipal budget, Superintendent Gordon Smith and the School Committee reviewed the major aspects of the School Department’s $36.89 million budget for fiscal year 2026 and how it had arrived at that number.
At the April 28 School Committee meeting, Smith explained that the School Department’s mission has grown to support the whole child with a focus on “building community and belonging.” He said, “Education is becoming more costly.” East Longmeadow’s per pupil spending is average when compared to other area school districts and the cohort of similar districts as defined by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The School Department’s budget request averages a year-over-year increase of 4.9%. This is, again, average among area districts, which range from 3% in Ludlow and Longmeadow to 10.25% in Easthampton.
“Everybody’s struggling,” Smith said of school districts across the state. Several communities are facing Proposition 2½ overrides, which would allow them to raise taxes by more than the state generally allows. Smith cited inflationary pressures, a pattern of above average increases to out-of-district tuition rates for special education students and lower than average increases to Chapter 70 state aid.
Working to bring the School Department’s budget increase from the 8.57% over FY25 needed to support level services to the maximum 2.5% increase that the town could support, Smith and Assistant Superintendent for Business Pamela Blair trimmed expenses where possible. They also entered into two agreements with the teacher’s labor union, East Longmeadow Education Association, to remove counselor days and pause contractual professional development money. These agreements saved $147,500.
School Committee member Sarah Truoiolo said the union turned down a third agreement to reduce one professional development day. It would have saved an additional $126,000. Smith said the School Committee also considered raising the transportation fund, but decided against it.
The cuts were not enough to drop the budget increase to the 2.5% target. The decision was made to cut 19 positions to bring the department’s budget request in line with the town’s financial capabilities. In each of the four other times when positions were cut in the past dozen years, it was limited to just five or six positions, despite lower year-over-year increases.
The positions to be cut include two coaches, three high school teachers, one middle school teacher, one middle school intervention coach, six elementary teachers, three reading specialists and three paraprofessionals. Truoiolo emphasized that the cuts were not arbitrary and were made with input from the leadership teams and School Committee. This brought the budget increase down to meet the target.
Four days earlier, Smith and Blair met with the Finance Oversight Committee and members of the Town Council to answer questions about budget topics including net school spending, maintenance and staffing to handle the ongoing mental health epidemic among youth. Blair explained that revolving accounts subsidize programs, including athletics and preschool, and are required to keep the programs afloat.
Smith said a rise in teen mental health issues became apparent prior to the coronavirus pandemic. When COVID-19 caused the shutdown of schools and social outlets, the mental health impacts “exploded,” he said. Services have been implemented to help families with issues like chronic absenteeism, the reasons behind which often have a mental health component. These services require a dedicated, paid staff member.
At the following Finance Oversight Committee meeting on April 30, the committee members each expressed appreciation for the School Department’s transparency and willingness to work with town leadership.
Finance Oversight Committee member and Town Councilor Kathleen Hill said Smith and Blair provided detailed answers and that the School Department’s budget was complex. She likened the department’s hesitancy to use all its School Choice funding — from non-resident students attending East Longmeadow schools — to the town’s efforts to preserve its excess levy capacity, a buffer between the amount to be raised and the levy ceiling.
Finance Oversight Committee member Richard Freccero pointed out that the department complied with Town Manager Tom Christensen’s instruction to stay withing 2.5% of last year’s budget. Finance Oversight Committee member and Town Councilor Anna Jones agreed that “a lot of time and effort” was spent ensuring the budget adhered to the town’s limitations.
“It’s up to us to allocate X number of dollars to them and it’s up to them to prudently allocate it and spend it as need be to make sure as many services are done as they can possibly engage,” Town Councilor Ralph Page said. “We’re probably going to be in this boat for a little bit unless something drastically changes.”
There are still unanswered questions when it comes to the amount of funding the state will provide to East Longmeadow and, particularly, the schools. While Gov. Maura Healey’s proposed budget limited the increase to the town’s Chapter 70 state aid, which comes to the town and is then allocated to the town, to $75 per pupil, the state House of Representatives is considering increasing that to $150 per pupil. Finance Oversight Committee member Dawn Starks said the final decision will come after the council approves the town budget. Hill said any increase is unlikely to be “monumental.”
Freccero motioned to pass any increase in Chapter 70 straight to the schools, although it was noted that the decision would come after the Finance Oversight Committee’s work is done and be up to the council. The idea was met with hesitancy from some of the committee and Christensen.
Page noted that to balance the budget this year, Christensen and Finance Director Kimberly Collins used a portion of the town’s excess levy capacity.
“If Chapter 70 goes up, [the town’s] portion goes down,” Christensen. “I would replace the levy first.” Finance Oversight Committee Chair Jim Broderick countered, “They’re losing 19 positions. The town side isn’t losing any.”
Town Councilor Ralph Page said, “If there’s a shortfall for some reason, they come in, explain it to [the council] and we give it to them.”
Freccero’s motion did not pass.
