Overview:
Educators and legislators from western Massachusetts have called for increased funding for rural schools, which are facing financial pressure due to declining enrollment and limited town budgets. The Special Commission on Rural School Districts declared that $60 million in rural school aid was required to adequately fund these districts, but the Legislature has never appropriated the full amount. Panelists at a recent conference said that rural schools need more funding to provide equitable education for their students.
HYANNIS — It’s no secret to those living in western Massachusetts that school districts are facing financial pressure now more than ever, which is why Franklin County educators and legislators are taking their message on the road.
State Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton; state Rep. Natalie Blais, D-Deerfield; Mohawk Trail Regional School District School Committee Chair Martha Thurber; Sheryl Stanton, superintendent of the Mohawk Trail and Hawlemont Regional school districts; and Jessica Corwin, Frontier Regional School District School Committee member and Sunderland School Committee chair, traveled to Hyannis last week to tell delegates at the annual joint conference of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees and the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents that rural schools matter and need more funding.
“The quality of our education shouldn’t be dictated by our ZIP code,” Stanton said.
“The quality of our education shouldn’t be dictated by our ZIP code.”
Sheryl Stanton, Mohawk Trail and Hawlemont Regional School Districts Superintendent
Panelists said rural school districts that are facing declining enrollment struggle to balance rising operational costs with stagnant or declining state aid and town budgets that are limited by Proposition 2½, which sets a cap on how much taxes can increase each year.
In 2022, the Special Commission on Rural School Districts declared that $60 million in rural school aid was required to adequately fund these districts, which would come as a substantial increase over the $4 million that was allocated in fiscal year 2022. However, the Legislature has never appropriated the full amount. Appropriations have increased slightly, peaking at $16 million in FY25 and dropping back to $12 million in FY26.
“We have been fighting like hell to get that line item,” Blais said. “That is the result of a lot of the things that are happening. We’re feeling a lot of downward pressure from the federal government and the decisions being made there. … This advocacy has never been more important, never more necessary.”
Corwin said that when facing budget cuts, regionalization is not always the answer. For example, while she believes that one of the elementary schools that feeds into Frontier Regional School could theoretically close and regionalize to create bigger class sizes and more opportunities for students, doing so could cost the towns millions, as staff cannot take pay cuts while schools regionalize, and when one town offers higher benefits packages, the other towns would have to match it.
She added that other regions, such as the Mohawk Trail Regional School District, which spans over 200 square miles, cannot regionalize further without adding to already long bus rides for students.
“These students, despite the heroic efforts of the women next to me, are already not receiving equitable education compared to their non-rural peers,” Corwin said.
Comerford said that to see change occur, rural communities need to make more noise, and they need to urge their urban and suburban counterparts to do the same.
“We need change. We’re intolerant of the status quo,” Comerford said. “In fact, that status quo has not been workable for years and years. How do we make that change? I would say nothing good in government happens without public pressure.”
The state Legislature has tasked the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Department of Revenue’s Division of Local Services with studying the Chapter 70 formula, particularly the portions that determine how much cities and towns must contribute to school funding. As part of that study, DESE and DLS have gone on a state-wide tour hosting listening sessions.
A virtual listening session has been scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 18, at 4 p.m. Attendees can register at bit.ly/43wBQUe. Additional written comments can be submitted to C70PublicComment@mass.gov.
DESE and DLS plan to finish their report in the spring. More information about the Chapter 70 local contribution study can be found at doe.mass.edu.
In addition to the Chapter 70 study, Blais said she and Comerford have filed a bill, H.517/S.314, “An Act to Provide a Sustainable Future for Rural Schools.” If passed, the bill would fund out-of-district transportation and reimburse districts for out-of-district tuition costs, strengthen support and funding for special educators and paraprofessionals, require DESE to create an office and grant fund for school district regionalization, and establish a rural school aid fund that is not subject to annual appropriation.
Blais urged people to contact their legislators to voice support for the bills. Corwin noted that more information and draft letters of support would be posted to ruralschoolsma.org.
Comerford added that contacting Gov. Maura Healey’s office, as well as Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler, would make a difference in emphasizing the need for Chapter 70 reform and increases to rural school aid.
“I beg of you to write to the governor. You need to say to her we need $60 million, not a penny less,” Comerford said. “We are in jeopardy; it will make a difference.”