Frontier committee advances Option A budget

School Committee · Meeting of March 3, 2026

ASHFIELD — Frontier Regional School Committee advanced Option A for its fiscal 2027 budget after a long public hearing. The plan applied about $150,000 in health insurance savings to the roughly $13.8 million budget, kept position cuts including the school librarian, and cut the $110,000 parking lot assessment by shifting rural aid. Total assessment growth fell from about $530,000 to $379,000.

Teachers, parents and a school nurse urged the committee to keep librarian Zoe Keenan, and Deerfield Select Board member Tim Hilchey said he had "a soft spot in my heart for libraries and librarians." A member said Option A moved forward 9-1. Motions to prepare Option B and an Option C that would retain the librarian both failed. The committee later voted unanimously to put the parking lot project out to bid with school choice funds.

In the full story:

• The Full Story
• Why It Matters
• Key Motions & Votes
• Source
• Ashfield's community access TV: School Committee meeting, March 3, 2026
• The complete report: 801 words

Source: the School Committee meeting of March 3, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.