WILBRAHAM — Since the Feb. 4 budget roundtable with leadership from both towns and state legislators, placeholder figures have been locked down. While the numbers are becoming clearer, the future is far from certain.
“The more finalized numbers have helped the bottom line,” said Assistant Superintendent for Finance, Operations and Human Resources Douglas Slaughter. Rather than a 7% rise in health insurance, the district’s rate went up 4%. However, the Hampden County Retirement Board came in with a 12.7% hike in its assessment, rather than the 8% that was expected. Slaughter said the figures for salary step increases and a cost-of-living adjustment are based on “good faith negotiations.”
Federal funding is expected to decrease by $185,000 for fiscal year 2026, Superintendent John Provost said.
To maintain level services, a budget of $41.64 million is needed for FY26, an increase of $2.44 million, or 6.28%, over FY25. The assessments for the FY26 budget, which reflect the split in enrollment between the towns, break down to $32.09 million for Wilbraham and $9.37 million for Hampden. That is an increase of $1.85 million and $557,770, respectively.
School Committee member Michael Tirabassi asked why transportation costs are higher for FY26 than in FY25, despite switching from a two-tier schedule to a three-tier schedule, which uses fewer buses. The cost is expected to be $3.73 million, about $650,000 less than the early-February estimate, but 4.77% higher than last year.
Provost explained that the Lower Pioneer Valley Educational Collaborative, which provides the buses for the district, did not charge the full increase to its assessment last year. However, the district must now cover both years’ worth of increase to the assessment. When asked about the bus schedule changes, Provost said, “We’re going to try to make the adjustments as minimal as possible,” and estimated a difference of 15 to 20 minutes for most pick-up and drop-off times.
Slaughter pointed out that 50% of the district’s maintenance and operations budget is dedicated to instructional salaries, while 2% goes to administrative salaries and 1% is spent on administrative expenses. In total, salaries and associated costs represent between 75% and 80% of the budget, he said.
Provost pointed out that the district spends $18,876 per pupil, $3,000 less than the state average. Some districts along the Interstate 91 corridor spend $5,000 per student more but receive higher amounts of state aid, he said.
School Committee member Sean Kennedy pointed out that $3,000 per student equals $9 million. “What could you do with $9 million, John?” he asked Provost, rhetorically.
“If people see [quality] creeping down, it’s because we’re under such financial pressure,” Tirabassi said.
Provost said the list of districts with budget gaps continues to grow and described it as a “statewide education collapse.”
Cuts
Because the budget process is still ongoing, and with a potential federal government shutdown on the horizon, Provost said the district is preparing for a budget shortfall. As such, he shared a list of potential cuts to services and staff should they be needed. The cuts, prioritized by what would be least impactful to students, were broken down into $162,500 increments.
Should $162,500 need to be cut from the budget, the district would avoid filling a payroll position and instructional coach role and reduce maintenance expenses and perhaps staff. Provost said the maintenance backlog is already about 500 work orders.
If the district needs to make up $325,000, in addition to the previous cuts, the ninth–grade athletics program would be cut, along with a half-time middle school music teacher and four Kindergarten paraprofessionals at Mile Tree and Green Meadows schools.
With a gap of $487,500, two registered behavioral technicians would also be cut and replaced with paraprofessionals, elementary school supplies would be reduced, and the high school-to-career counselor would need to be eliminated. Provost said the last of these “hurts my heart,” because he has been working on creating an Innovation Career Pathway program. The district recently received a $35,000 grant for the program. Provost said several local businesses have expressed interest in hosting students and 75 of next year’s seniors have signed up.
A budget shortfall of $650,000 would mean that, in addition to the previous cuts, Chromebooks would not be replaced. A gap of $812,500 would mean that a middle school related arts teacher and elementary band teacher would also need to be cut. If the total shortfall reaches $975,000, a high school teacher and the elementary library paraprofessionals would be laid off. Provost said those schools would need to close their libraries.
“It would take years to get back to where we are now,” Provost said of making those cuts. He said it was “devastating.” School Committee member Tim Collins remarked to Provost, “All the progress you’ve made since you’ve been here will be lost” and “our kids will suffer.”
The loss of the music programs was particularly hard for Tirabassi to accept. If not those programs, Kennedy asked him, “What else do we cut?”
School Committee member Lisa Murray said, “None of it is acceptable to me.”
A resident, Karen Romano spoke during the public comment period. “Can we get creative and find other ways to get more money in?” she asked, adding that parents would be happy to help “brainstorm” ideas to generate revenue.
Collins urged residents to attend a meeting with legislators on March 12 at the Sixteen Acres Branch Library, 1187 Parker St., Springfield.
Capital costs
The assessments Slaughter shared included the cost of capital projects at Minnechaug Regional High School and one districtwide item totaling $2.27 million that are slated for FY26. If approved, the cost of the projects would be split between the towns in accordance with the regional agreement. The most expensive of these costs is the replacement of the high school’s stadium seating, at $1.81 million. Slaughter said the cost of the aluminum seating will be impacted by the aluminum tariffs that were recently implemented by the federal government.
On the other hand, Slaughter said upgrades to the school’s security cameras are not expected to cost $370,000, less than originally estimated. The winning bid is from the same company that supplies camera equipment for the Wilbraham Police Department.
The other items requested for the high school are additional and replacement mini split air conditioning units and upgrades to the internal two-way radio repeater. A notation on the latter of these indicated that it was requested by Police Chief Edward Lennon. A Kubota brand RTV for use across the district would cost $43,000.
There are several capital expenses at the district’s other schools that would be the responsibility of the towns in which the schools are located. These capital requests come to $1.89 million for Wilbraham’s four schools and $217,000 for Green Meadows School in Hampden.
