Pittsfield School Committee Sees Budget Calendar, Chapter 70 Concerns
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Pittsfield Public Schools kicked off its fiscal year 2027 budget calendar, and are again facing uncertainties with state Chapter 70 funding.
During the first meeting of the new term on Wednesday, the School Committee OK'd an FY27 budget calendar that plans the committee's vote in mid-April. Interim Superintendent Latifah Phillips stressed the importance of equity in this process.
"It's really important for us through these next couple of months to look at our different schools, our different needs, different student demographics, and really understand, are we just assigning resources equally, or are we really assigning them based on what different groups of students need?" she said.
The district could lose up to $5 million in Chapter 70 funding from declining enrollment, specifically of low-income students. This is a similar issue that PPS saw in 2024, when the discovery of 11 students meeting those income guidelines put the district in the higher funding category and added $2.4 million to the school budget.
"We are in a funding category, Group 11, for a district with a large percentage of low-income students, and that number could fluctuate depending on who exited the district," Phillips explained.
"So we're going to do our best to understand that, but ultimately, these numbers will impact the budget that is proposed to us by the governor."
According to the budget calendar, a draft budget will be presented in March, followed by a hearing in early April, and the School Committee is set to vote on the budget in mid-April. The City Charter requires it to be adopted before May 1, and a meeting with the City Council must occur no later than May 31.
Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Bonnie Howland provided an overview of the Chapter 70 funding and budget process. The budget calendar, she said, is designed to really support transparency, coordination, and legal compliance.
The state issued funding ensures districts receive enough money for an "adequate education" by setting a minimum spending level for each one.
"Chapter 70 is fundamentally about equity," she added.
"Districts with less local wealth receive more state aid to meet that foundation level. Two major components overall drive the formula: the foundation budget and the local contribution."
The foundation budget is based on Oct. 1 enrollments each year. Additional costs for special education, English language learners, and low-income students are factored in, and costs are higher at the upper grade levels and for vocational programs.
After the foundation budget is set, a complex formula is applied for the "statewide target local contribution" and an additional "target local contribution" for each community. The local contribution considers income and property values and the municipal revenue growth factor, calculated by the Department of Revenue.
The MGRF is then applied to determine the "preliminary local contribution," and, depending on whether or not the local contribution is above or below the target amount, funding is adjusted. Governor Maura Healey has until January 28 to set those numbers.
The foundation budget for the past fiscal year was $104,024,894, and Howland noted that the full amount wasn't received "because of all the complexities of the formula." The district's local budget was $86,450,361 in fiscal year 2026.
She pointed to the data glitch in 2024, where some students were not counted as low-income, and the state had to go back through and allocate additional resources to PPS.
"So this year, we are watching that number very closely," Howland said. "… It results in about $850 less per student, so it can really impact the funding."
Phillips emphasized the need to do something different with Pittsfield's two community schools, Conte Community School and Morningside Community School. She hopes the district can propose a strategy to see increased outcomes from students in the schools.
Those two buildings have an outdated, open classroom layout that can "present a tremendous challenge, and we need to take into account," she said.
Conte is included in plans for a combined school on the Crosby Elementary property, but that plan just entered the feasibility study phase and is years out.
PPS FY27 Budget Calendar Presentation by Brittany Polito
Tags: fiscal 2027, pittsfield_budget, school budget,
