ATHOL – The Athol-Royalston Regional School Committee voted April 15 to revise its fiscal year 2027 budget, using reserve funds to add five positions.
The revision follows certification of $1,009,386 in excess and deficiency (E&D) funds, which are not a recurring revenue source.
The five positions include a guidance counselor and nurse at Athol-Royalston Middle School, a career and college readiness teacher, a high school culture monitor and an additional English language learner teacher.
The culture monitor is one of the 18 positions which were cut in March that is now being restored, while the English language learning and nurse are new hires. The college readiness teacher is a new hire following a retirement. These changes will increase the budget by $305,416.
The updated general fund operating budget totals $37,172,709.
Superintendent Matthew Ehrenworth said the district took a measured approach to adding positions.
“These few positions at the very least are very likely able to be sustained as we move forward,” he said. “I was also apprehensive about putting in 15 more positions with all E&D and then next year … cutting them back down.”
During the public hearing, Eileen St. Jean, an elementary special education teacher in the district, questioned whether the district should be adding new positions while also losing existing staff back in March.
“Isn’t the priority to keep what we have instead of continuing to add new?” she said.
School Committee Vice Chair Tammy Duquette said the added positions fall short of what the district needs.
“This is a great start, but I don’t think it’s far enough. I don’t think our dollars are being spent appropriately to put bodies in our building … I just want more for our kids,” she said.
The committee also approved using $180,000 in E&D funds to reduce the regional transportation assessment for Athol and Royalston. Committee member Kylie Hall said decisions about reducing assessments can directly affect families and students.
“Kids can’t learn if they’re struggling at home. And if mom and dad are stressed at home because of their tax bill or tax assessment, it doesn’t really matter what’s going on in the buildings here,” she said.
Duquette explained that the district has provided more than $2 million in recent years to offset transportation costs for the towns, averaging about $500,000 per year.
“A half a million dollars every year is a lot of money. It’s a lot of people. It’s a lot of assistants, a lot of programs,” she said.
She said the district is trying to balance supporting students with being a partner to the community.
“We do support people here. We absolutely see the value,” Duquette said. “We know that kids can’t learn if they’re not being supported at home and at school.”