{"id":2190,"date":"2025-03-30T22:32:12","date_gmt":"2025-03-30T22:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/?p=2190"},"modified":"2025-05-19T03:40:18","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T03:40:18","slug":"fy26-budget-overview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/2025\/03\/30\/fy26-budget-overview\/","title":{"rendered":"Overview of the 3 Budget Options for FY26"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><mark style=\"background-color:#ffe100\" class=\"has-inline-color\"><em>May 10, 2025<\/em> Update: <\/mark>The Mayor&#8217;s FY26 current budget proposal is between Budget #1, an &#8220;austerity budget&#8221; and Budget #2 &#8211; &#8220;status quo services.&#8221; The current proposed budget is austerity with some status quo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/SOSLogo.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2222\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/SOSLogo.png 1000w, https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/SOSLogo-300x180.png 300w, https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/SOSLogo-768x461.png 768w, https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/SOSLogo-18x12.png 18w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>March 3, 2025 &#8211; SOS explains the three budget proposals presented by the Superintendent at the March 13, 2025 School Committee meeting.  <a href=\"https:\/\/northamptonma.gov\/AgendaCenter\/ViewFile\/Minutes\/_03132025-8355\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Meeting Minutes<\/a> for 3\/13\/25.  For additional FY26 budget information, see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/2025\/02\/13\/support-our-schools-responds-to-mayor-sciarras-fy26-financial-presentation\/\">SOS Responds to Mayor Sciarra&#8217;s FY26 Financial Presentation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><mark style=\"background-color:#ffe100\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Budget 1<\/mark>: The City&#8217;s Targeted Budget&nbsp;&#8211; 20+ Cuts!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">SOS calls this the \u201c<em><mark style=\"background-color:#ffe100\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Austerity Budget<\/mark><\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>This austerity budget is the one the Mayor has committed to and said she supported in the March 27, 2025 School Committee meeting. It is not enough to cover the increasing expenses because of rising costs in transportation, special education, and many other factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The City&#8217;s targeted budget will result in the loss of roughly 25+ positions next year. In her presentation of the budget, <\/strong>Dr. Bonner said that 20+ positions would be cut, but later added that NPS would need to add 5.8 paras next year to meet IEP obligations. The only way to add those 5.8 paras is to cut other positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>And even worse, the Superintendent emphatically refuses to reveal the specific positions that could be cut!&nbsp; <\/strong>She says that she wants to spare the community the upheaval, but we think she wants to avoid<em> facing<\/em> the upheaval from a very angry public. <strong>Please tell the school committee to get the specific positions on the chopping block from Dr. Bonner.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Can you imagine the state of our schools if 25 more positions are cut in FY26?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Schools will not be able to operate safely<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Class sizes will increase even more than they already have<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>District goals for improvements in ELA and Math outcomes will not be met<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>High school students will continue to be unable to get into all the classes they need to be competitive applicants for post-secondary education<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>You\u2019ll hear anti-worker, union-busting arguments used as scare tactics.<\/strong><br>One of those is the \u201cincrease in contracted salaries.\u201d However, this argument falls flat when you consider that cost of living (COLA) increases are currently only 3%, well within the 4% budget dictated by the mayor.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bottom Line: The City&#8217;s austerity \u201ctargeted budget\u201d is unacceptable and will only exacerbate the crisis currently underway. It will decimate our schools beyond repair.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><mark style=\"background-color:#ffe100\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Budget 2:<\/mark> The Level Services budget continues current year\u2019s (and previous year\u2019s) cuts, adds no positions.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">SOS calls this the \u201c<em><mark style=\"background-color:#ffe100\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Status <\/mark><\/em><mark style=\"background-color:#ffe100\" class=\"has-inline-color\"><em>Quo<\/em> Budget<\/mark>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>This budget carries the previous years\u2019 cuts\u2014that even the mayor has acknowledged have caused a \u201ccrisis\u201d in the schools\u2014into FY26. This budget neither adds or cuts any positions. With the Level Services budget\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We will be significantly hindered in reaching district improvement goals for ELA, Math, and SEL outcomes<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Student and staff safety may continue to be adversely affected without any additional staff<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This budget also depends on an unacceptable anti-worker, anti-teacher narrative that pits teachers against students.<\/strong> It assumes no changes to the contracted salaries and COLA increases. In fact, in her presentation the superintendent said a COLA increase of less than 3% would \u201csave money\u201d for the budget. Our teachers and staff deserve a fair wage, and we will not be fooled into a false narrative of either fair pay or job cuts. <strong>Both<\/strong> are possible in a city as wealthy as ours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bottom Line: The Level Services Budget <\/strong><strong>merely prolongs and extends the extremely challenging conditions of the current school year.<\/strong><strong> It does not address the crises currently happening and instead normalizes them.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><mark style=\"background-color:#ffe100\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Budget 3:<\/mark> The Strong Budget adds back necessary positions, restores recent cuts and adds new positions based on current needs of our schools and students. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">SOS calls this one the \u201c<em><mark style=\"background-color:#ffe100\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Level Up! Budget<\/mark><\/em>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>SOS strongly supports this budget because it begins to fix the crisis situation that the cuts of the past years have caused. Specifically, the Strong Budget\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Addresses essential safety and student behavioral management needs&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reduces class sizes across the district&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Allows for more student choices in middle and high school by restoring and adding specialized content teachers&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Expands STEM and digital literacy at the elementary schools<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Improves the support services staff-to-student ratio<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Adds an additional school psychologist at the high school\u2014a truly critical need as student mental health needs have increased since the pandemic<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Allows NPS to reach its district improvement goals<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Better meets the needs of our special education and English language learner students by reducing special education caseloads and implementing specialized programing for students with severe disabilities and who are medically fragile<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bottom Line: Only the Strong Budget adequately meets the needs of our district and begins to remedy the current crisis. The other two options are unacceptable: One just continues our current crisis situation, the other will harm our schools and students further.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">For more information<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/2025\/02\/13\/support-our-schools-responds-to-mayor-sciarras-fy26-financial-presentation\/\">SOS Responds to Mayor Sciarra&#8217;s FY26 Budget Presentation<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/2025\/01\/16\/facts-need-context-budgets-need-values\/\">Facts need context.  Budgets need values.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>May 10, 2025 Update: The Mayor&#8217;s FY26 current budget proposal is between Budget #1, an &#8220;austerity budget&#8221; and Budget #2 &#8211; &#8220;status quo services.&#8221; The current proposed budget is austerity with some status quo. March 3, 2025 &#8211; SOS explains the three budget proposals presented by the Superintendent at the March 13, 2025 School Committee [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2190"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2590,"href":"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2190\/revisions\/2590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sosnorthampton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}