MONTAGUE — The Gill-Montague Regional School District School Committee approved a preliminary operating budget of $25.6 million for fiscal year 2027 this week by updating its Chapter 70 and rural aid revenues, and nixing $795,000 in requests for new school staff.
The first preliminary budget presented to the School Committee on Jan. 13 had a $2.17 million deficit, and this latest budget update closed the gap by $990,000. Even with these reductions, however, a $1.1 million deficit still exists, according to the meeting materials.
“This is just our rough budget, just so you could vote a budget that has solid numbers in each category,” Business and Operations Director Joanne Blier explained to the committee. “We’re gonna do a lot of work to this budget. It may go up, it may come down over the next two months, and we’re starting that work now.”
Blier clarified that the removal of the 18.5 new staff positions is also subject to change as the budget process continues, and some requested positions could be funded. These include three positions that were cut in the FY26 budget — the curriculum director, school resource officer and a special education instructional assistant.
This budget vote came a day before Gov. Maura Healey released her FY27 budget. Blier said the assessments for the towns of Montague and Gill can be established after the state sets the minimum contribution from Chapter 70. These numbers will then help build toward a final budget to be voted on in March.
School Committee member Steve Ellis asked Blier if the preliminary budget would be described as level-service, and she said it is slightly below that.
On Feb. 10, the public hearing for the FY27 budget will be held during the School Committee meeting, and a final budget vote will come on March 10.
Regionally, other school districts are also looking at increased or tight budgets for FY27.
The Pioneer Valley Regional School District is deciding whether to open more School Choice seats to increase revenue as the district faces a tight budget. Meanwhile, the Frontier Regional School District is seeing a $946,000 increase in its early budget, driven by health insurance costs, and the district has implemented a “soft freeze” on spending.
Superintendent search update
Along with the FY27 budget development process, Gill-Montague is also continuing to search for its next superintendent. Interim Superintendent Tari Thomas has been at the helm of the district since July after Brian Beck resigned.
Interviews with the Superintendent Screening Committee are underway with semi-finalists, and by the week of Feb. 2, the finalists will be announced to the public.
During the Feb. 3 School Committee meeting, the questions for the finalists will be reviewed and approved. A new superintendent will be selected during the week of Feb. 23 in open session with the School Committee, with the intention to have the successful candidate start work on July 1.