WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williamstown Elementary School's principal last week told the Mount Greylock Regional School Committee that the best use of an additional $120,000 in the fiscal year 2027 budget is to hire a math interventionist for the school.

 

Benjamin Torres on Wednesday gave the board an update on the school with a focus on the need to address instruction in mathematics.

 

Those concerns prompted a request from the WES School Council to include the full-time math interventionist position in the FY27 budget.

 

School councils are committees of staff and community members in each building of a regional school district that are charged with assessing and advocating for the needs of individual schools.

 

Although funding for the position was not included in what district administrators characterized as a "level services" budget that it sent to both member towns, some Williamstown parents took their case directly to town meeting, which voted to amend the town's assessment to the district, adding the additional $120,000 to cover salary and benefits for new position.

 

Torres last week reminded the School Committee of the arguments he made for an interventionist when he presented the School Council's report back in February.

 

"My goal is to highlight the amazing growth we've seen with our students and the amazing work being done by our teachers, but also highlight there's a small group of students who are not closing the gaps quickly enough to be prepared to be successful at the upcoming grade level," Torres said. "This is why the School Council has been advocating not just for an interventionist but for a more systematic approach when it comes to interventions."