Amherst School District - Ways & Means Committee

Ways & Means Committee (W&M)

We hope this webpage serves as an effective and transparent source of analyses, information, and work performed by the ASD W&M Committee. We welcome suggestions regarding other types of information we ought to include.

W&M Mission Statement

The Ways & Means Committee is a self-organizing advisory committee that provides independent input into and assessment of the executive budgeting decisions of the Amherst School Board, SAU39, and school leaders. Its role is to conduct due diligence into the strategic fiduciary decisions of the school district on behalf of the residents of Amherst.

The budgeting process should be a conversation between the school leadership, the SAU leadership, the School Board, the W&M Committee, and the public. The Committee participates actively, collaboratively, and transparently in the board’s budgeting discussions ¬– asking hard questions, making suggestions, and agreeing or disagreeing with decisions taken.

While its focus is on the proposed, upcoming annual school budgets, its perspective can cover multiple years of expenditures (past and future) as well as insights into how the Amherst School District schools compare with similar and aspirational ones in delivering educational value (academic outcomes achieved given the investments made).

The Committee’s final deliverable is an independent report to the town’s voters on its findings about the budgeting process and the educational value of the proposed budgets and warrant articles ¬– including narratives explaining votes taken for and/or against specific articles.