PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Few people attended a school budget hearing explaining the need to cut more than 100 Pittsfield Public School employees.

On Wednesday, two special education employees spoke about the importance of preserving positions within their department. Included in the proposed districtwide reductions are 27 teachers, 26 paraprofessionals, and seven instruction and accountability coordinators.

Special Education Coordinator Joanne McGill shared her experience over the last couple of years at Pittsfield High School, saying, "I am well aware that even some cuts will likely result in me losing my position as I am one of the newer employees.

"In those two years I feel like me and the other special education coordinator have I have been able to work within the building has really made a significant amount of progress towards kind of just different initiatives that we have attempted to help put into place to make the environment move smoother."

McGill said the new individualized education plan forms posed a challenge this year and that she has concerns about limiting positions.

"I feel very strongly that our special-education students are going to be harmed in losing some of the experts that have really worked hard to develop meaningful IEPs and have learned the coaching skills to support the teachers in implementing them," she said.

"This year alone with the caseload (individualized education coordinators) we are working with, it's just a heavy load and we're working and making that progress and I'm just afraid of backtracking on all of that progress looking at the possibility of less IECs and more of that pressure on our special education teachers."

Paraprofessional Maeve Murray began her position at Egremont Elementary School last year after about 22 years of residential programs. It has been eye-opening for her to see the teachers and staff work with all of the things that come up each day.

"It just seems superduper important that not just my role but everybody that works with the special education kids be there," she said.

Murray added that one of the teachers she works with recently said, "I don't know what what would happen if you weren't here on a day-to-day basis" and that she loves working for the school system, as it is a "really profound thing."

Much of the impact on the budget is attributed to the September sunsetting of the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds that were created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and not as much in state Chapter 70 education funding as in previous years.

For FY25, the district is anticipating a 3.5 percent increase from this year's budget appropriation totaling $80,821,096, about $2.7 million more. With anticipated contractual increases and other spending obligations reaching more than $6.4 million, a local budget shortfall of almost $3.7 million is anticipated not including the discontinued ESSER funds. That $3.7 million gap has brought a proposal for a level number of reductions.

Superintendent Joseph Curtis pointed out that there will be a second budget workshop on March 27 that will include a line item overview. It will begin with a televised overview and then break into smaller groups to discuss the presentation.

"We will be switching the format slightly to ensure that the detailed budget overview including the line item budget overview will be its own meeting to be televised by Pittsfield Community Television and so that the community will have full access to the presentation and the documentation certainly that we post to our district website," he said.

This will take place at Reid Middle School at 5:30 p.m. The budget is expected to be approved April 25 and the School Committee is expected to meet with the City Council to discuss it no later than June 1.

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