Berkshire Hills Regional School District proposes increases and layoffs for fiscal 2026 budget

Great Barrington, Stockbridge, and West Stockbridge — The Berkshire Hills Regional School District has released its proposed budget for fiscal 2026. The school committee is scheduled to review the proposed budget at its meeting on Thursday, February 13.

Last year, the school district approved a gross operating budget of approximately $35.0 million. According to documentation released by the school district, the fiscal 2026 budget is proposed for $37.5 million, a $2.42 million (6.89 percent) increase from this fiscal year.

The school district is proposing Great Barrington’s assessment to be $22.4 million, a $1.36 million (6.44 percent) increase from this fiscal year. The district’s proposed assessment for Stockbridge is $4.12 million, a $255,900 (6.62 percent) increase from this fiscal year. Finally, West Stockbridge’s proposed assessment is $3.58 million, a $74,818 (2.05 decrease) from this fiscal year.

“This year is a tough one from a budget perspective,” Superintendent Peter Dillon states in a letter as part of the proposed budget. “For the first time in many years, we are planning for layoffs and other budget reductions as we work to make our budget increases more manageable. We discussed those reductions for months with administrators, and while we wish we could have none, we believe we have reached consensus around where we could make reductions with the smallest impact on students.”

According to Dillon, personnel and benefit costs make up approximately 75 percent of the school district’s operating budget. Dillon wrote that the benefits line item for the proposed budget has increased from this fiscal year due to:

• A 16 percent increase in health insurance premiums for employees;
• A 3.5 percent increase in dental plan premiums;
• A 23 percent increase in retiree health insurance due to a 16 percent increase in premiums for retirees who are not yet 65 years old and are on the same plans as current employees;
• A 19 percent increase on the MEDEX health insurance plan for the calendar year 2025 and a projected 12 percent increase in 2026; and
• A 1.65 percent decrease in Berkshire County Retirement System assessment.

The benefits line item as proposed for fiscal 2026 is $8.29 million, a $827,791 (11.09 percent) increase from this fiscal year. The salaries line item for the school district is proposed for $19.6 million, a $247,848 (1.28 increase) from this fiscal year.

Following an email request from The Berkshire Edge for a list of proposed layoffs, Superintendent Dillon wrote that he would not comment until the February 13 meeting. According to the line item spreadsheet in the proposed budget document, however, reductions include:

• At Muddy Brook Regional Elementary School,
  • A $72,825 (42.16 percent) reduction in the fiscal 2026 early kindergarten salary line, reducing the line item from $172,735 to $99,910; and
  • A $37,086 (12.60 percent) reduction in the fiscal 2026 third grade salary line item, from $294,220 to $257,134.
• At W.E.B. Du Bois Regional Middle School,
  • A salary of $68,816 for a computer instruction and design teacher is proposed to be eliminated;
  • A $79,925 (20.52) percent reduction in the fiscal 2026 mathematics salary line item, from $389,498 to $309,573;
  • A stipend of $30,000 for middle school salaries is proposed to be reduced to $15,000; and
  • The salary line item for middle school special education is proposed to be cut by $13,488 (2.36 percent), from $570,399 to $556,911.
• At Monument Mountain Regional High School,
  • The art salary line item is proposed to be reduced by $15,034 (7.74 percent), from $194,286 to $179,252;
  • The tech ed line item is proposed to be reduced by $75,392 (49.73 percent), from $151,610 to $76,218;
  • The high school stipend salary line item is proposed to be cut in half, from $50,000 to $25,000; and
  • The salary line item for intervention specialists is proposed to be cut by $47,120 (21.28 percent), from $221,444 to $174,324.

According to the spreadsheet, Superintendent Dillon’s salary, currently set at $196,508, is proposed to be increased to $204,368, a $7,860 (4.28 increase) from this fiscal year. Muddy Brook Regional Elementary School principal Cynthia Carey’s salary, currently set at $117,832, is proposed to be decreased to $111,000, a decrease of $6,832 (5.80 percent). W.E.B. Du Bois Regional Middle School Principal Jason “Jake” McCandless’s salary, which is currently set at $111,000, is proposed to be increased to $135,000 for fiscal 2026, a $24,000 (21.62 percent) increase from this fiscal year. Finally, the salary for Monument Mountain Regional High School Principal Christopher Barnes, currently set at $133,686, is set to be reduced to $132,000 in fiscal 2026, a $1,686 (1.26 percent) decrease from this fiscal year.

Update February 12: The financial data used in this article, including salary line items, were taken directly from the proposed fiscal 2026 budget on the school district’s website.

However, one day after this article was published, Superintendent Dillon wrote the following email to The Berkshire Edge:

1. Superintendent’s salary – the $204,368 listed for FY26 is actually the current FY25 salary.  Administrator salaries, with any potential increases, are not set until late spring for the next fiscal year and are, therefore, listed as the current rate.  The percentage increase is from the previous fiscal year, which was FY24.
2. The elementary school principal’s salary of $111,000 is not an actual reduction for the current principal.  This is her FY25 rate.  The FY26 compensation will be set in late spring.  The difference in the salary amount is because the previous principal, who resigned in June, 2024 was making $117,832.  There was no “salary reduction.”
3. A similar situation occurred for the middle school principal.  The principal who was there in the 2023-2024 school year, and whose salary was $111,000, resigned as of June 30, 2024 and Mr. McCandless was hired to replace him, at a salary of $135,000.  The difference is not due to one administrator receiving a $24,000 increase in one year.
4. The situation is again the same for the high school principal.  The principal in office in FY24 retired on June 30, 2024.  Her salary at that time was $133,686.  The new principal, who began this school year was hired at a salary of $132,000.  The principal did not receive a reduced salary from FY25 to FY26.