Pittsfield School Committee Sees $72M Budget for FY23

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The School Committee on Wednesday got a first look at the proposed $72 million school budget for fiscal 2023.  

The budget of $72,398,262 is a 7.56 percent, or $5,086,562, increase from this year. Most of the increase is in contractual obligations.

There will be a School Committee budget workshop on Monday and, later that day, a joint meeting with the City Council followed by a public hearing for the budget on Wednesday.

"You'll notice a large amount of the increase is contractual obligations according to current agreements with the [Pittsfield Educational Administrators' Association], the [United Educators of Pittsfield] and proposed with the [American Federation of Teachers]," Superintendent Joseph Curtis explained when student representative William Garrity queried him about the increase.

"So that contractual increase is not typical."

Within the budget is $1,958,347 for administration, $55,762,847 for instructional, $4,523,341 for other school services, $6,372,746 for operations and maintenance, $472,358 for fixed costs, $68,074 for adult learning, $234,047 for acquisition of fixed assets, and $3,626,502 for tuition payments.

With $570,000 in school choice revenues and $50,000 in Richmond tuition revenues, the total budget amounts to $73,018,262.


During executive session, the committee discussed and voted on bargaining agreements with the Local 1315 AFT that includes bus drivers and attendants, cafeteria workers, custodians, paraprofessionals, and educational secretaries.

At the beginning of the meeting, the room was filled with AFT members advocating for an increase in wages. There was testimony from bus drivers, paraprofessionals, cafeteria workers, and parents about the demanding duties of their jobs and the need for better compensation.

"Tonight I'm here to say I'm angry, very angry, I'm angry that today we're no closer to settling this contract than we were seven months ago, I'm angry because me, my staff, and co-workers continuously, we're short-staffed because we cannot get employees to work at this wage," cafeteria worker Debi Rooney said.

"I'm angry because the [cafeteria] keeps losing very good longtime employees because of the low pay, I'm angry because when we're short-staffed, I'm told, 'Well you might have to just cut things off the menu' and who does that affect? That hurts the children," she said.

"Why should I not feed them the full menu because I don't have enough employees to get the food out that’s on the menu?  I'm angry because you say you don't have the money to pay us a livable wage, but we all know that's a big fat lie, it's a big, fat lie."

Rooney added that the work the AFT members do matters and they demand to be paid the living wage they are asking for.


Tags: fiscal 2023,   pittsfield_budget,   school budget,   

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Berkshire Organizations Awarded Stories Grants

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Manos Unidas, of Pittsfield and Multicultural BRIDGE, of Lee were both awarded Mass Humanities' Expand Massachusetts Stories (EMS) grants.
 
The EMS grants support storytelling projects that provide a more complete, more nuanced picture of life in the Commonwealth, according to a press release. Since launching EMS in 2021, Mass Humanities has prioritized funding projects that give voice to those who are often excluded from mainstream histories and stories. In total, the foundation has distributed more than $3 million to date, supporting the completion of audio tours, documentary films, oral histories, public events, and archival research.
 
This fall, Mass Humanities concluded its fourth round of the EMS initiative by providing $1.2 million in grant funding to 64 cultural nonprofit organizations across Massachusetts.
 
Manos Unidas was awarded $20,000 to supoport Raíces de Cuentos, an oral history project that will collect under heard stories related to the resilience and struggles of flight and relocation across generations from Latino immigrants in Pittsfield.
 
Multicultural BRIDGE was awarded $20,000 to support Migration Stories, an oral history project expanding on Multicultural BRIDGE's Berkshire Mosaic, in partnership with BTW Berkshires as an oral historian and journalist, to create a community digital archive, of, for and by Black, immigrant and indigenous communities in the Berkshires, involving a series of events.
 
"We live in a moment that calls for new narratives and new opportunities to reimagine the past, present, and future of Massachusetts," said Brian Boyles, Executive Director of Mass Humanities. "This year's Expand Mass Stories projects give local people the chance to chronicle and celebrate their communities with dignity and hope. On behalf of our board and staff, congratulations to these bold, courageous storytellers."
 
The number of EMS grantees increased by 50 percent from last year, from 42 to 64 organizations. The percentage of BIPOC-led grants is the highest it has ever been, at 89.6 percent.
 
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