GREENFIELD — Three months into fiscal year 2027, the Greenfield School Committee voted this week to rearrange budget lines to accommodate personnel changes, such as the creation of a director of health and wellness services position.
The committee voted 5-1 on Wednesday to accept a revised budget proposal, which, according to Business Manager Andy Paquette, kept the total budget at the same $24.4 million that was approved by City Council, but reconfigured line items. Member Melodie Goodwin voted against the revised budget, and Mayor Ginny Desorgher was absent.
“This budget reflects the personnel changes that have occurred over the summer, known grant changes and the new director position approved by the School Committee last meeting,” Paquette wrote in a memo to the committee. “This revised budget is within the amount voted on by the School Committee and approved by the City Council and the mayor.”
Revisions to the budget included increasing the amount allocated for the Academy of Early Learning by $242,488, decreasing the Federal Street School budget by $192,884, reducing the Four Corners School budget by $46,891, reducing Newton School’s allocation by $114,051, increasing Greenfield Middle School’s funding by $273,568 and cutting $407,214 from the Greenfield High School budget.
No jobs will be lost, and the reductions mostly come from vacant positions, Paquette previously explained.
Other changes include adding a health and wellness director position, which has been budgeted for $115,000; reducing the amount allocated for the superintendent’s assistant; increasing funding for district-wide psychologists and special education therapists; and increasing transportation spending, which includes additional funding for transportation staff, contracted services, and adding a $125,000 budget line item for gas and repairs.
During the meeting, the committee also voted to amend four of its policies regarding tobacco use and teaching about alcohol, tobacco and drugs, and heard an update from Superintendent Carol Kruser on how her entry into Greenfield has been going.
Superintendent update
Kruser, who started as the new Greenfield superintendent in July, told the committee that over the past few months she has been focusing a lot of her efforts on meeting people and getting to know the community. She said this work will continue throughout the rest of the year, but in December she plans to begin analyzing what she has learned to allow for planning and implementation of action steps moving forward.
“The biggest thing I need to do this year is to meet as many people as I can, to talk to as many different people as I can and to find out, to listen and to learn what’s important to them,” Kruser said. “I’ve already started, but there are a lot of people with a lot of different perspectives, so that’s going to be a full-year thing.”
She said she has held “Meet the Superintendent” events and she plans to continue doing outreach throughout the school year to learn the values of the community and how they align with hers — that all students are capable of success, creating shared leadership and collaboration opportunities, supporting staff professional development and listening to student voices.
Kruser added that in the coming months she will continue her review of school policies, improvement plans, student achievement data and more, which will help her not only understand what her goals should be as a new superintendent, but also assist in structuring the new Greenfield Public Schools Strategic Plan after the current one expires in 2028.
When asked by committee members if she plans to begin any changes and initiatives this year, Kruser said she has been working with Assistant Superintendent of Teaching & Learning Stephen Sullivan and the instructional leadership teams to implement initiatives that were planned before she was hired. She added that she will continue to work with district staff to do classroom walk-throughs and analyze data to begin intervention work recommended by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).
The school district is enrolled in DESE’s Accelerated Achievement Partnership program, and DESE liaisons have been working with Greenfield to provide coaching, technical assistance and school improvement supports. While the district as a whole is not classified as requiring intervention or assistance, according to the DESE Accountability Report, Newton School is classified as requiring assistance or intervention, and last year, Greenfield High School was also classified that way.
Policy amendments
Policies ADC (Tobacco Products on School Premises Prohibited), GBED (Tobacco Product Use on School Property by Staff Members Prohibited), IHAMB (Teaching About Alcohol, Tobacco and Drugs) and JICH (Alcohol, Tobacco and Drug Use by Students Prohibited) were all updated to include references to vaping, and to ban the use of vapes and e-cigarettes on school grounds.
Committee members voted unanimously to update the policies with minimal discussion.
