SOUTHAMPTON — Voters at Southampton’s May 6 Annual Town Meeting approved an $897,000 general override to cover unanticipated costs at Norris Elementary School, to prevent the loss of the equivalent of 10 full time positions.
The override request will be decided by voters at the May 20 town election.
The first warrant was on the budget and saw the town vote to approve the overall town budget for fiscal year 2026. With the pending approval of the Norris School override, the overall budget would come to $24 million, a $3 million increase from last year.
“I’m not going to lie, it was a difficult time getting to this,” said Town Administrator Scott Szczebak, who compared the process to playing whack-a-mole.
Szczebak added the final budget was as transparent, efficient and responsible as possible for the town as it consolidates costs, plans for the future and provides a detailed breakdown of costs for residents.
Szczebak said that the increase to the budget primarily comes from a 20% increase to municipal health insurance costs and a 16% spike in the school budget due to unexpected special education costs, contractual salary increases and central office’s needs.
“The budget is always going to be a constant change until it’s finally finalized, but we did get through it, and I am proud to present the budget tonight,” Szczebak said. “I think it’s a responsible budget. There are a lot of changes this year, but we hope that people will take a look at it, [go to] the website and learn more about it.”
The budget was the most discussed and debated warrant item of the night as parents and educators spoke in favor of meeting the needs of the town’s students at Norris School.
Norris School Committee Chair and Select Board Vice Chair Jon Lumbra said without the override, the school would lose eight full-time staff members and experience reductions in hours equivalent to the loss of another two full-time staff members, or the equivalent of a 12.5% reduction in school staff.
“I believe this budget is not responsible for our children, our educators, or the long-term strength of our community,” Lumbra said. “We’re not talking about trimming around the edges, this is a fundamental weakening of the fabric of Norris School.”
School Committee member Margaret Larson shared concerns that many others brought forward during the open discussion period that losing this staff would negatively impact students and the livelihoods of community members who would be without jobs.
“My child went through the Southampton school district, and she benefitted from a fully staffed school, she befitted from smaller class sizes,” said Larson. “I urge our community to support our local school and to understand the ramifications of losing 10 staff members. This is not only about the kids in the schools, but it’s also about the livelihoods of our teachers.”
Hampshire Regional School District Superintendent Vito Perrone said the additional money presented by the override does not indicate “extravagant growth, wasteful spending or lavish requests,” it simply reflects the preservation of level services for the school.
“[The budget] supported by the proposed override, would allow Norris Elementary School to continue delivering the level of service our students deserve, and our families expect,” said Perrone. “Without it, the quality of education we’ve worked so hard to build will erode.”
Voters ultimately decided against the budget excluding the override with 83 “yes” votes and 113 “no.” Even if this budget had passed, voters would have then decided on the second budget, including the override.
Voters ultimately passed the budget including the override with a majority voice vote. This means that if the override question fails on the May 20 ballot, town officials will have to convene immediately to put together a new budget, which will be brought in before a Special Town Meeting.
With this override-contingent budget, staffing levels at Norris School will remain unchanged.
The May 6 Town Meeting saw all 30 articles on the warrant passed with little to no contention, though there were multiple amendments made throughout the night to correct typos in the motions listed in the Town Meeting warrant.
Some of the passed articles included transferring money for capital requests including two replacement police cruisers, the borrowing of $2 million to replace outdated water mains on College Highway, funding for the Highway Department Heating System, updates to the towns bylaws surrounding swimming pools and more.
A recording of the full May 6 Town Meeting can be viewed on the Easthampton Media YouTube channel. The FY26 budget as well as a sample ballot for the May 20 town election can be viewed at townofsouthampton.org.
