TURNERS FALLS — The selectboards and finance committees of Gill and Montague met with Gill-Montague Regional School District administrators this week to review the proposed fiscal year 2026 school budget ahead of a Feb. 11 public hearing.

The first budget presented in early January originally projected a $1.3 million shortfall, but the proposed budget the School Committee approved Jan. 28 included new information on Chapter 70 state school aid and rural school aid, along with some adjusted numbers, to produce a balanced general fund budget of nearly $24.92 million.

In this proposed budget, Gill’s town assessment is seeing a large increase due to enrollment of Gill K-12 students increasing from 79 pupils in FY25 to 93 pupils in FY26. Thus, the assessment for Gill equates to a $216,706 change, or a 12.3% increase.

This change was something Gill-Montague Business and Operations Manager Joanne Blier expressed concern over during the Jan. 28 meeting as this is a significant increase for Gill. On Wednesday, Gill Selectboard member Charles Garbiel likewise expressed concern over how Gill residents would respond to this 12.3% increase.

“I think it’s going to be a hard sell,” Garbiel said, adding that he would like the opportunity for a public hearing in Gill ahead of Annual Town Meeting, where Gill residents would either approve or deny their contributions.

By comparison, Montague will have a 3.86% increased assessment, equating to $468,644, amid a drop in enrollment of Montague K-12 students from 667 in FY25 to 637 in FY26. Typically, Gill has an average assessment increase of slightly above 3%.

Gill Finance Committee Chair Claire Chang inquired about the two to three staff positions that could be eliminated under the current budget proposal. Gill-Montague Superintendent Brian Beck explained that the district has not finalized the need for cuts, but if that decision is made, employees who would be at risk of having their positions cut would be notified ahead of a final budget vote in March.

“We’re going to spend a little bit of time heading toward the March 11 meeting looking at what else might be possible, and if we can’t find anything that’s possible, then I would initiate conversations with potentially impacted staff first, and then bring that to the March 11 meeting to indicate publicly what our reductions might be in the budget we had to make,” Beck explained.

In terms of revenue, a portion of the discussion spoke to the fact that the school is largely dependent on outside factors, like grants and state aid. This led to discussion on how state officials may be able to advocate for more funding for rural districts.

“How can we work with [state Sen.] Jo Comerford and [state Rep.] Natalie Blais, to connect with those who are directly working and make a statement about rural school districts?” Montague Finance Committee member Francia Wisnewski asked.

In response, Montague Town Administrator Walter Ramsey noted that both Comerford and Blais have expressed interest in attending a Selectboard meeting to discuss legislative priorities. Beck also noted Blier reached out to the legislators about this issue previously.

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.