Pittsfield Schools Hold Budget Hearing
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Pittsfield Public Schools' new leadership shared its budget vision for fiscal year 2027, as well as some recent observations about the state of the district.
A virtual budget hearing was held on Thursday evening. The in-person budget hearing last Monday was postponed because of the snowstorm.
"We really want to focus on setting goals for improvement next year, and the district is not just in need of small improvements here or there, but we really are a district in need of transformative change," interim Superintendent Latifah Phillips said.
She shared information gathered over the past year, having been appointed in the summer of 2025, and has some plans to address those findings.
The administration will present a draft fiscal year 2027 budget on March 11, and has been focused on equitably distributing resources based on need while bridging a $4 million funding gap without layoffs.
The district's expected budget for fiscal year 2027 is $86,855,061: of that, $68,855,061 is in Chapter 70 funds, a $404,000 increase, and $18 million by taxpayers. Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Bonnie Howland said this is a "very modest" increase over the previous year.
"The half percent that we did get, unfortunately, is a net loss for us, because it will not cover our projected increases," she reported.
"…The goal, of course, is to close the gap. We have to look at the projected shortfall and try to not to impact the schools and staffing as much as possible. So how we're doing that is we're looking at attrition and retirements."
This includes reviewing class sizes, looking at vacancies, and right-sizing staff to enrollment.
A fair student funding formula was applied to the budget this year, shifting away from a traditional staffing-based budgeting to student-based budgeting. This model aims to bring equity, transparency, and flexibility, focusing on high-need populations such as English language learners, students with disabilities, and low-income students.
"Equity is the real focus, and making sure that we are distributing resources across the district based on student need, and making sure that those dollars follow the students to the schools that need it most," Howland explained.
Seven Pittsfield schools have been identified as in need of academic acceleration and improvement: Crosby Elementary School, Conte Community School, Morningside Community School, Reid Middle School, Herberg Middle School, Taconic High School, and Pittsfield High School. The two academies are not counted because they are too small to have an accountability profile with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
More than 90 percent of state elementary schools are outperforming Crosby, Conte, and Morningside, while one school is in the 79th percentile and has "extremely high" positive student outcomes. In 2024, Williams was designated as a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education.
"And so what that says to me as a leader, to our leadership team, is that we really have to look at how do we differentiate support to our different schools so that we can pull all of our students up?" Phillips explained.
She identified Crosby, Conte, and Morningside as in "turnaround," and they also have the greatest number of novice teachers. The school district has more than 150 teachers who have been in the job for three years or fewer, and about 140 teachers who have been in the job for 16 years or more. There is a total of 526 teachers.
The district also has a suspension rate that is four times the state average, and students with disabilities account for half of that. Phillips recalled the shock of seeing a kindergartener suspended during her early days with the city.
She explained that a one-size-fits-all strategy will not help to move forward, and PPS needs to be thoughtful about who is in the buildings and who needs more intensive support. Middle schools are also seeing a large number of staff with less than three years of experience.
In speaking to teachers, she found that they would like more collaboration and planning time, that they experience a high volume of behavioral incidents, and there is a desire for professional development that's differentiated and job-embedded, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.
One of the biggest takeaways from students is that they aren't asking for school to be easier.
"They're actually asking for their school experience to be meaningful, rigorous. They want real-world experience, and they want to be able to connect what they're learning to what they'll do after graduation," Phillips reported.
Annual student surveys show that the sense of belonging declines sharply after elementary school, and that students want the connection back and to build trust with the school community.
Focus areas for the upcoming school year and budget include enhancing instructional leadership practices, setting goals and making more data-informed decisions, and involving families and the community in the process.
Some changes that PPS will see are the leveling of class sizes and staffing, ensuring there are content leads in secondary schools, and increased resources to Pittsfield's community schools, which have an outdated, open classroom layout.
One of the questions during the hearing was whether staff layoffs are predicted with the budget restructure.
Phillips reported that they anticipate addressing some of the reductions through vacancies, as the district has a "really high" vacancy rate and a high rate of unlicensed staff.
"In some areas where we have identified that, for example, with the class sizes, we are looking at ensuring that our class sizes are more consistent across the schools, in which case we may need one less teacher in one elementary than another," she said.
The administration is currently assessing needs, talking with principals, and trying to prioritize needs.
Tags: fiscal 2027, Pittsfield Public Schools, school budget,
