The following comments were posted to the SOS – Support Our Schools Northampton Facebook Page in response to school committee meetings and district information shared publicly about school funding.
“Yesterday morning at the strategic plan roadshow, Superintendent Bonner confirmed that she will never advocate for city funds to fully fund our schools. I asked her ‘What are you going to do to advocate for restoring positions to the schools when the 6-8 million dollars is certified in November?’ She said she was not going to go out and ‘picket with signs’ I asked her to speak up for the schools at school committee meetings. She said she would never ‘join our side” 10/25/24
“Remind me again why one would get a job as a teacher , their own leadership doesn’t stand up for them .. so disappointing to see. I do understand that the reason one becomes a teacher is because they have the passion and love for the future generations , that they educate . You’d think that that would be THE LAST place they should cut funds . The re-elections cannot come fast enough. Anyone that says that there is enough teachers should have nothing to do with the decision making.” 10/25/24
“While a strategic plan doesn’t strictly ‘have to’ include detailed funding specifics, it should always incorporate a clear funding strategy, outlining potential sources and mechanisms to finance the planned initiatives, making it crucial to consider how the plan will be funded within the overall document; this ensures the plan is realistic and actionable I plan to attend one of the roadshow dates. I will be asking where are the pages that outline exactly how this plan will be funded. The mayor has put forward a budget that cut 30 positions in the last two years, how am I supposed to believe her/the city is committed to fully funding this plan?” 10/18/24
“I heard there was mention from the School Committee that our Superintendent was “making good progress” on her communication goal. Based on the loooong night of shocking testimonials, it seems this is very clearly not the case. Can we please turn the dial “back” to honesty and knock off the spin? It’s not convincing or in the interest of our students, educators, or community!!! 10/12/24
“Thursday’s powerful School Committee meeting (October 10) – Bridge Street educators start speaking at 1:44:51 and they are 
!!! Our district is the home to some of the best educators in the Commonwealth, and it was equal parts moving and devastating to hear them describe learning gaps directly related to chronic understaffing. We must support and value our most vulnerable students because they are struggling.
Really glad to be part of this community because our school staff are amazing, but I know our city can do better by our kids and families. We can and must advocate on a state level, but inadequate staffing is an acute crisis that needs an urgent funding appropriation from the city. This is a huge racial, economic, disability justice issue that impacts us all.” 10/12/24
“Thank you to the 11 Bridge Street School educators who made public comments at the School Committee meeting yesterday in Northampton. Each comment was testimony explaining the impacts of the defunding of public education in our District, and each comment broke my heart. These are educators who dedicate their life’s work to teaching, nurturing, and supporting children. They each explained what their days are like without supports, without classroom paraprofessionals, and with larger class sizes. Many of them were my son’s former teachers, they are incredible people, and they are drowning. Our District is imploding due to defunding, and the effects are real.” 10/11/24
“Here’s an important fact. State aid for education hasn’t moved in over 20 years. “In 2002 Northampton’s Chapter 70 aid amount was $8 million dollars. More than 20 years later,in 2023, Chapter 70 aid for Northampton hovered just below $8 million,” meanwhile, total inflation during that period equals 75%. Imagine if state aid was indexed to inflation, Northampton would be getting $14 million today. We likely wouldn’t be having this fight for level funding today.
Until state leaders fix this problem of inadequate state funding, we can act locally. Thankfully we live in Surplus Heaven, and the city takes in enough revenue to level fund our schools without job cuts. It’s literally the least we can do.” 9/17/24
“I’m so frustrated and offended by the Mayor’s reference in the meeting to the schools ‘hemorrhaging’ the city’s money and her denial that the city has underfunded the schools for decades. Yes, the school budget has increased significantly in the last few years because of covid, moving to an inclusion model, and long-overdue faculty and staff contracts that finally brought pay in our district closer to statewide averages after decades of being below them. Is it really so difficult or odious to frame this as the city investing appropriately in our schools rather than demonizing us for being such a drain on the city? I’m so grateful to Councilor Quaverly Rothenberg for continuing to have our backs. Adequately funding the schools should be a high priority ethically, but I’ll note that it is also the most fiscally conservative choice, as investment in the education of a community’s children – especially those most at risk – pays dividends in the long run, while failure to do so produces deficits.” 8/5/24
“The disdain in her voice every time schools are brought up is awful. How is this someone we should trust with overseeing public education in our town?” 8/5/24
“ . . . so we have enough ‘unexpected’ extra money to cancel an override ‘for the SCHOOLS ’, but we DON’T actually have the money (2 million) to fully fund the schools?”
“During this morning’s city council meeting Mayor Sciarra yet again framed the school budget as an increase, as she has often done through the budget cycle. While she may be increasing the base budget that the city uses to calculate the allocations, this ignores the real costs of school funding and the historic underfunding of the schools by the city, which in turn led the schools to fill in the gaps with school choice revenue and ESSR funds, which are gone.
A budget that is $2.1M short of level services (which were already inadequate in many areas) and results in cutting 22 positions, is not an increase no matter how she tries to spin it. Do not let her smoke and mirrors framing of the budget as the largest increase the schools have received fool you. The city is still defunding the schools in favor of the continual siphoning away of tax dollars into the stability funds rather than funding essential services. To this administration, mountains of cash are more important than the needs of children.” 8/5/24
“The mayor wants to cancel the override. Says that there was more revenue than expected. One of the unexpected items was $2m in interest income…seems hard to believe that wasn’t foreseeable.” 8/1/24
“So they suddenly realized there is so much extra money because from revenues and interest that they underestimated, which by the way, many people have been pointing out is a pattern and was the case for months only to be derided and vilified by City Councilors and Finance Director Nardi (who is the one underestimating these revenues and interest), told to listen to the experts and called divisive. Turns out they were right all along and the ‘experts’ were not.
Are they (Mayor Sciarra and Finance Director Nardi) incompetent or is this purposeful and they knew they could have funded the schools all along?
It wasn’t those of us fighting to fund the schools being divisive it was them. They are still choosing to defund the schools. This extra money is now being used as the reason they don’t need an override. Why aren’t they adding an additional $500K or even another $100M to the base budget of the schools when they have the money and have had it all along. Why string the Northampton community along like this for 6 months? What do they gain from this?
The City owes the community, NASE, Quaverly Rothenberg, Mike Stein, and Al Simon an apology.” 8/1/24
“Only $314,688 more will bring back the NHS English teacher, the Math interventionists at Leeds and Bridge St, and restore the library paras at Leeds and Ryan Road to full time. $425,511 will bring back all of the above plus all the 1st grade paras. About $540,000 will bring back all of the above and the JSS 2nd grade class room teacher, and will add a third 2nd grade classroom teacher at Bridge which also has class sizes of 25 next year just like JSS.
When the City “suddenly” finds $2M dollars, and likely it’s more than that, surely they can afford another $550,000. The city doesn’t have a deficit! The city underfunds the schools. The city created this mess.” 8/1/24
“I find it very interesting that the mayor knew about this during last night’s school committee and city council meetings and told no one. . . Why have the school committee suffer through unimaginable austerity and spend hours trying to decide how to cut the proverbial baby in half, while not letting on that we have an extra $2M+ that ‘just appeared’ and we’re no longer ‘so broke that an override is needed’?
Seems like the override just gets conveniently canceled as soon as it’s not important for officials to believe we’re poor anymore. First defund the schools, then reveal a bit more about our actual financial condition. (Surprise: as always, there’s millions more than ‘expected.’)
A bit of transparency would go a long way. Right now it’s just bad look after bad look — or as we say in the legal industry, ‘the appearance of impropriety’. 8/1/24
“Per the mayor’s office, no, we will NOT be getting fully funded schools, despite the matching 2M number. This money will not be used to restore positions, but to replenish stability funds.” 8/1/24
“This budget process has been nothing if not enlightening. I am a school psychologist, and throughout my career I have always been asked/required to submit Medicaid reimbursement paperwork for some of my services for Medicaid-eligible students. It’s a pain and takes time out of my workday to do, but I’ve always done it thinking that it is one concrete thing I can do to help the school district recoup some of the resources/funds that we use servicing students with disabilities. For my entire 11-year career, working in 3 different public school districts across 2 different states, I have always done this under the understanding that the Medicaid reimbursement money was being provided in order to reimburse the schools for the services we have rendered to Medicaid-eligible students with disabilities, as intended. To find out that this is NOT true, and apparently has NEVER been true (at least in Northampton), is completely blowing my mind. It feels borderline fraudulent to me. I truly don’t say this to be inflammatory or accusatory…I’m just completely shocked that the stated purpose that I have always been told for the Medicaid reimbursement program/funds is not actually what they have been used for all along. And I’m sure it’s not just happening in Northampton.”
8/1/24
“The medicaid reimbursements should have been going into the recurring school operating budget all along, instead the city kept them. Now they are acting like they are doing this amazing, generous thing by “giving them back to the schools” but instead of putting them directly to the budget where it’s needed, they’re putting them in this fund that is still in City control.” 8/1/24
“Just a reminder that this is the point in the historical cycle of Northampton school funding (late July/early August) where some — but nowhere near enough — money is ‘found’ and everyone has to fight for their scrap. Which person/school/program is worthier than the other? Also, no need to bow down and kiss the ring in thanks to those on high for providing these few extra bucks. (Especially when we know that the city has the money to fully fund the schools if those in power were inclined to do so.) There is HISTORY here people. Tread lightly. Be kind to one another. Remember the big picture. And VOTE!” 7/31/24
“What an exhausting dance. So much labor and energy put into defending schools, student needs, and the livelihoods of people who work every day to help our children in our school system. Imagine what we could do with that labor and energy as a community if we had a City Hall that didn’t force this obscene dance upon us.” 7/31/24
“This is the time in the cycle when the ‘hero’ powers that be miraculously find extra money. As predictable as underfunding our schools and pushing for more overrides. It is time for a new story. How about schools that are fully funded and public officials that actually listen to, and serve, all of their constituents. We’re ready for that story!” 7/31/24