Northampton schools propose $46.6 million 'strong' budget as enrollment falls and federal funding risks loom

Superintendent Dr. Bonner presented the Northampton Public Schools’ “strong” fiscal year 2026 budget — $46,610,090 — to the City Council’s finance committee. The school committee earlier voted 8–2 to approve the strong budget, which the superintendent said would preserve current building staff levels, add targeted positions for literacy and numeracy, and support social-emotional services and extracurricular programs.

The budget, presented as one of three budget “views,” reflects the district’s priorities for addressing pandemic learning loss, special education needs and shrinking enrollments while signaling exposure to federal funding changes. Dr. Bonner highlighted that Chapter 70 state aid to Northampton is projected at $8,424,239 (a 2.37 percent increase year over year) and warned that the district currently depends on about $1.7 million in annual federal entitlements (Title I, Title II, Title III, Title IV and IDEA), which would significantly affect operations if eliminated.

Enrollment and kindergarten numbers were central to the discussion. The district estimated total enrollment of 2,376 students plus 27 out-of-district placements (2,403 total), a decline of 93 from the current year’s 2,496. Kindergarten enrollment trends were cited as particularly sharp: 67 kindergartners in 2023, 42 in 2024 and 22 in 2025. Dr. Bonner said Bridge Street School’s catchment is especially transient and that kindergarten class counts affect staffing and class-size management.

Staffing has risen in recent years even as enrollment declined. The presentation showed a 9 percent increase in staffing (about 32.67 full-time-equivalent positions) over a multi-year period, concentrated in paraeducators. For FY26 the district requests additional paraeducators (about 5.8 FTE) and other personnel aligned with literacy, math recovery and special education; the superintendent said two additional special-education teachers will be requested from the special education stabilization fund and that the district anticipates seeking roughly $140,000 from that fund.

School leaders said priority additions in the strong budget would target early literacy and math, reduce class sizes in core high-school and middle-school content courses, restore some positions cut during prior austerity and invest in professional development for teachers. Dr. Bonner said the request assumes a placeholder 3 percent cost-of-living adjustment and step increases pending ratification of bargaining-unit contracts.

The district also described operational and program risks if federal grant funding is reduced. Dr. Bonner and school staff noted the ESSA/entitlement grants (Titles I–IV and IDEA) and Medicaid reimbursements as key revenue streams; the superintendent said entitlements total roughly $1.7 million and that potential federal changes would not be fully absorbed by the operating budget.

Members of the public and union representatives addressed the committee in support of the strong budget. Speakers included Cindy Mahoney (Northampton Special Education Parent Advisory Council), Andrea Gido (Northampton Association of School Employees president), parents and students who described classroom impacts and extracurricular needs. Several said cuts would disproportionately affect students with disabilities, English-language learners and low-income children.

Councilors asked about specifics: how the high school plans to support rising ninth-graders who read below grade level, how many elective courses have been lost over time, how technology support will be provided without a full-time technology-integration specialist, and whether shifting elementary boundaries could smooth enrollment unevenness. Dr. Bonner said the district is diagnosing cohorts of students who need focused literacy supports, that some course offerings change year to year as curricula evolve, and that master scheduling remains a building-level process where seniors are typically scheduled first.

School committee member and Budget & Property Chair Stein urged the council to consider long-term revenue trends and to weigh the district’s structural funding needs rather than treating the budget as a short-term problem; Stein argued that prior compensation increases and rising student need have driven costs and that one-time federal funds were primarily spent on nonrecurring COVID-related costs.

Ending: Dr. Bonner said the district will continue to seek targeted funding, work with the city on budget options and prioritize core instruction and special education supports while the council and school committee proceed with formal budget deliberations.