If your Web browser or email app are unable to load the prefilled template located on this page, you can use the text below as a start point for emailing Mayor Sciarra and City Councilors.

Email to:

[email protected], [email protected]

Dear Mayor Sciarra and City Councilors,

I am writing to urge you to use some of our city’s soon-to-be certified $6-8 million in excess revenue to fund Northampton Public Schools and fully staff each building according to its needs.

Our city has generous savings already. Our students need support now. The students who are impacted the most by underfunding are our most vulnerable: English Language Learners, Special Education students, unhoused students, students from low-income families, and students of color.

At the elementary and middle school levels, teachers are forced to decide which students currently behind in reading and math will receive supports because there are not enough interventionists. Libraries and main offices are left partially unstaffed during the day. Refugee children who have little to no English arrive in Northampton, a designated sanctuary city, and are placed in large classes at Bridge Street School with insufficient support to help them access the curriculum and learn the school skills to begin their learning in this new country. Class sizes across the district are too large, and with the lack of paraeducators and interventionists, classroom teachers are stretched too thin as they try to meet the diverse needs of their overfilled classrooms. We need more staff now.

At the high school, staffing is alarmingly lower than comparable schools, and has been for many years. Students often cannot fill their schedules with core courses because there are not enough staff to offer an adequate number of sections. To measure up to similar area schools, we need 8-12 more teachers in key subjects such as Foreign Language, Life Sciences, Art, and English. The NHS school psychologist has a caseload of over 900 students when the National Association of School Psychologists says these numbers should be no more than 500:1. Since NHS staffing levels have been ignored over many years, its tangible needs are actually greater than all of the other schools. With the increase in mental health and academic needs in recent years, students are not getting what they need. We need more staff now.

Mayor and City Councilors, we cannot shortchange students in this way. In fact, they deserve not just the basics, but a rich, fulfilling education. Informed citizens know it is fully within your power, mayor, to present a financial order that would reallocate some of this $6-8 million to our schools and appropriately staff each building according to its needs. Members of the City Council, we know you can urge the mayor to create this order, and then vote to make it a reality. Our students need and deserve more classroom teachers, special education teachers, interventionists, paraprofessionals, librarians, nurses, psychologists, counselors, and office staff. Please prioritize the needs of our children. Please fully fund and fully staff our schools.

Sincerely,