AMESBURY — After an hour of going through all line items, the School Committee on Tuesday voted to pass a recommended budget that would just about cover level services.
The 5-1-1 vote approves a fiscal 2026 budget of $40,869,300, an increase of 7.71% over fiscal year 2025. The vote also served as a vote of confidence in keeping Amesbury Innovation High School at its Friend Street location instead of moving it inside Amesbury High School as a cost saving measure.
“Thank you to the administration and to our leadership team, all of the staff, and members of the community who have spent so much time invested in this process,” Mayor Kassandra Gove said at the conclusion of the vote.
The budget season has been a tight one. On Feb. 24, School Superintendent Elizabeth McAndrews shared grim news to the School Committee that the school budget could see more than $2 million in cuts.
During her presentation, McAndrews said to maintain the same services, the school budget would need to be $41,149,300 – an increase of $3,203,862, or 8.4%, in the fiscal 2025 budget. McAndrews said they are unlikely to receive that amount, having been told they are likely to get an increase of between 2.5 and 3%.
A 2.5% increase ($948,636) would come up $2,255,226 short of providing level services, while a 3% increase ($1,138,363) would fall short by $2,065,499. Even an optimistic 5% increase ($1,897,272) would come up $1,306,590 short, McAndrews has said.
The largest proposed cut in non-student services was to move Innovation to Amesbury High, saving $210,082.
AIHS was founded in 2001 by teachers and administrators who felt there was a need to provide an alternative to students not succeeding in a traditional high school setting, according to its website.
The only cuts made to the budget approved Monday night were a $108,000 reduction from Amesbury Middle School through the recommended cut of an assistant principal and increasing AHS’s school choice offset by $100,000, resulting in a $100,000 reduction from the budget.
Ultimately the schools themselves choose what is cut to meet those dollar amounts.
Prior to the vote, members of the community spoke during public comment including American Federation for Teachers Amesbury President Cindy Yetman, who stressed that there is no one in the community who deserves blame for these increasing costs year to year.
“It is not because of a fat contract that these people have received that have put you in this position. It is not because of disingenuous use of our healthcare access to insurance. We have been very prudent in that regard. It is simply the cost of doing business,” Yetman said.
Sgt. Jordan Shay Memorial Lower Elementary School Principal Jim Montanari also spoke, saying that the decision should be easy for the School Committee to support a level services budget.
“As a School Committee, you represent us, but more importantly, you re represent our district’s children. It is your job to advocate for them,” Montanari said.
While the School Committee has made its recommendation, the school budget still has a ways to go before being finalized.
City Council budget hearings for all departments will be held in May. The exact schedule has not been released by City Council at this time, but a budget vote is anticipated for June 13.
Prior to then Gove will have to make her own recommendation to City Council regarding the school budget, with the School Committee’s recommendation representing the budget’s ceiling and Gove’s recommendation representing it’s floor.
Gove, at the meeting, said she does not know what she will recommend.
“It’s too early for us to know really what we should expect in revenue. And we’re still reviewing 15 other departments among many other cost centers. So I choose to wait to get a full picture of what we have on our plates before I make a recommendation to the city council,” Gove said.
When reached for further comment Tuesday, City Communications Director William Donohue noted that Gove attended the state’s joint Committee on ways and means fiscal year 2026 budget hearing held Monday at University of Massachusetts Amherst.
“Asked to speak, the mayor advocated for increased Chapter 70 funding, relaying the struggles that Amesbury incurs each budget season to close our gap of funding our schools as critical state aid diminishes,” Donohue said.
Matt Petry covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: mpetry@northofboston.com.