AMHERST — A consolidation from three elementary school buildings to two is expected to mean some savings for the school budget beginning in July 2026, but Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman is cautioning the spending reductions may be limited.

While a new elementary school building is expected to open in fall 2026 on South East Street, providing space for 575, K-5 students, and leading to the closing of the aging Wildwood and Fort River schools, the need to establish a 6th Grade Academy for sixth-grade students, likely to be sited in a wing at the Amherst Regional Middle School, brings its own costs.

“You may not have three buildings, but you will still have three programs under the Amherst elementary district budget,” Herman told the Amherst Finance Committee at its May 8 meeting. “It will need its own staff, it will need its own leadership team.”

The expenses will also include a lease agreement with the Amherst-Pelham region.

Herman’s comments came as the Finance Committee began its review of the $103 million budget for fiscal year 2026 for all municipal, school and library services brought forward by Town Manager Paul Bockelman. That proposal includes $28.32 million for the Amherst elementary schools, which is a 5%, $1.35 million increase over this year’s $26.97 million budget.

But this means spending for the elementary schools would fall $269,704 short of the 6% increase in the budget endorsed by the Amherst School Committee. Bockelman is also offering 1% of the budget increase as a “bridge loan” using free cash, with an anticipation that the streamlined elementary schools can be run at less cost and having a reduced budget plan for fiscal year 2027.

District 1 Councilor Cathy Schoen, who chairs the Finance Committee, suggested that Herman find a way to have the sixth graders integrated into the middle school, which she said would be better for the children, the curriculum and the total budget. This could be done, she said, by returning to speak to officials at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Previously, DESE had informed Amherst school leaders that the sixth graders must be isolated from the rest of the school.

“I strongly suggest going back in to get that decision rethought,” Schoen said.

At Large Councilor Mandi Jo Hanneke asked if there are cost-saving options for educating the sixth graders, such as temporary classrooms elsewhere. “Is the school district considering more than just sixth grade at the middle school regarding when Fort River opens?” Hanneke said.

Herman said the complication is the 7-12 grade levels the region serves is bound by the regional agreement. There has been no interest from Leverett, Pelham and Shutesbury to expand the regional agreement to include sixth graders.

During the Finance Committee meeting, Amherst School Committee Chairwoman Jennifer Shiao had concerns about the nature of the questions from councilors.

“Our job is to evaluate the needs, it’s not appropriate for the Town Council to say ‘but really do you need that?’” Shiao said.

“Micromanaging the line items of the 200-page budget book is not part of that responsibility,” Shiao said, adding that, “unless it’s because you don’t believe us when we say this is what the school district needs.”

The staff positions that would be lost at the elementary schools under Bockelman’s proposal are uncertain, but expected to be discussed when the Amherst School Committee meets May 20.

During a hearing on the full $103 million municipal budget Monday, some of those commenting spoke to the concerns with the elementary and regional school budgets.

Rich MacLean of Alpine Drive said he is disappointed that nearly 24 positions between the elementary and regional schools are being lost in the budget proposals. “They’re still not meeting the needs our school districts,” MacLean said.

“Even though the schools are getting above guidance, they are cutting a tremendous number of positions and a tremendous amount of money compared to what level services would be,” said Cathleen Mitchell of South Amherst.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.