BUCKLAND — The Mohawk Trail Regional School District is preparing to cut 6.5 teaching jobs and 12 paraprofessionals as part of a $28.9 million fiscal year 2027 operating budget.
School Committee members reviewed the draft budget, which represents a 6.41% increase over the current fiscal year, this week in preparation for a public hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 18, at 6 p.m. at Mohawk Trail Regional School. The budget includes a total $1.23 million, or 8.55%, increase in assessments to member towns.
Business Administrator William Lataille told committee members that the district has not determined specifically which positions would be cut, but he said the staffing reductions are necessary as the district is facing increased fixed costs, staff salaries and health insurance rates, as well as declining state aid and School Choice revenue.
“This has been the toughest budget year for me,” Lataille said.
Lataille said he has been working with school principals and district unions, and they have determined six and a half Unit A positions, which include teachers and specialists, and 12 Unit B positions, which include paraprofessionals, will be cut. Further work with principals and union personnel will determine which specific positions will be cut.
“As of right now, there’s no programming cuts,” Lataille noted. “These are cuts that we’ve worked out individually with the principals.”
He clarified that some of the positions being eliminated are currently vacant. Anticipating the budget cycle would be difficult, the district opted not to fill some vacant roles and has been using long-term substitutes instead.
“Not all of these are filled positions,” Lataille said. “That was a decision we made at the beginning of the year, not to fill those positions that could be on the list.”
Additionally, across the budget, salary lines being decreased in FY27 include substitute nurses, speech pathologists, adjustment counselors, after-school staff and maintenance.
The district is budgeting for a 13% increase in health insurance costs in FY27, an 8% increase to payroll, a 7% increase in transportation and a 67% increase in special education transportation costs. Meanwhile, the district is anticipating decreases in the revolving fund and grants used to offset local assessments, including a loss of a $114,900 Bridge for Resilient Youth in Transition (BRYT) grant and $723,620 in School Choice revenue.
The district is anticipating a $111,375 increase in Chapter 70, and has budgeted to use the entirety of the $900,000 in rural school aid allocated for the Mohawk Trail Regional School District in the governor’s draft FY27 budget. If the House and Senate versions of the state budget make any reductions to the $20 million the governor included for rural school aid, Lataille said the district would then have to make additional cuts.
After subtracting state aid and revolving fund offsets, the district is left with $15.6 million that must be assessed to the eight member towns.
Lataille said he knows the increases will be challenging for the towns, but if the district were to reduce the budget further, as many as 24 staff positions would need to be cut.
“We recognize the towns and where they’re at, and that they’d like us to stay at a 2.5% increase, but for us to stay at 2.5%, we’d need to cut $1.8 million from the budget,” he said.
Town assessments
Between operating and capital expenses, Ashfield will see a 9.11% increase in its assessment for FY27, for a total assessment of $3.12 million. The town has 118 students enrolled in preschool through 12th grade.
Buckland has the largest assessment of the eight member towns at $3.38 million, which represents a 10.58% increase. The town has 150 students enrolled in PreK-12.
Charlemont’s assessment is increasing by 0.35%, for a total of $810,256. The town has 30 students enrolled at Mohawk Trail Regional School.
Colrain is expected to see the largest increase in FY27: 11.35%. The town’s assessment will be nearly $2.88 million. There are 134 Colrain students enrolled in PreK-12.
Hawley’s assessment will be $251,793, a 3.33% increase. The town has 10 students enrolled at Mohawk Trail Regional School.
Heath’s assessment will be nearly $1.02 million, a 1.78% increase. There are 46 Heath students enrolled in PreK-12.
Shelburne will be assessed $3.23 million, representing a 7.13% increase. The town has 105 students enrolled in PreK-12.
Plainfield’s assessment will be nearly $1.23 million, a 8.52% increase. The town has 54 students enrolled.
School Committee Chair Martha Thurber asked her colleagues if they think their towns would support the $28.9 million budget proposal. If a budget is not passed by July 1, the state’s 1/12 rule would go into effect.
Under Massachusetts General Law, if a regional school budget is not passed, school districts may continue to operate on a month-to-month basis, with monthly budgets amounting to no more than 1/12 of the last approved budget. Lataille said if this were to occur, the district would need to cut more staff positions.
“We’ll have to make more dramatic cuts if this doesn’t pass,” Thurber said.
Thurber said passing the school budget in her town of Buckland would require a Proposition 2½ override. Other committee members said their own municipalities are facing a tough budget year, and they hope to continue working with other town officials to pass the budget.
A public hearing on the Mohawk Trail Regional School District budget is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 18, and the School Committee is expected to vote on the budget on Wednesday, Feb. 25.