Greenfield Schools Tap Reserves to Avoid Cuts in $1.7 Million Budget Gap

Other Committee · Meeting of May 19, 2026

Greenfield schools plan to absorb a $1.7 million budget gap using reserves, with no program cuts. At the May 19 Ways and Means Committee meeting, Greenfield Public Schools Superintendent Joel Joy and Business Director Andy Paquette told city councilors the FY27 level-service budget exceeds the mayor's proposed appropriation by $1.25 million, a gap the district plans to bridge by drawing roughly $500,000 from a preschool revolving account, an estimated $600,000 in vacancy savings, and $125,000 from a transportation revolving account. Paquette's two-year balance sheet showed the district's combined revolving accounts declining from $4.1 million to a projected $2.8 million — a 31 percent reduction — prompting committee questions about long-term sustainability.

Franklin County Technical School President Rick Martin separately reported that Greenfield's per-pupil vocational assessment jumped from roughly $9,900 to $11,478 in a single year, and that a new school building is estimated at $128 million after MSBA reimbursement — roughly the same as renovation. The committee voted unanimously to recommend a new Valley Health Regional Collaborative Revolving Fund and tabled Community Preservation Act requests pending a presentation from the CPA committee chair.

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Source: the Other Committee meeting of May 19, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.