Town Meeting voted overwhelmingly to support an override.

Voted to support an $11 million override.

The South Hadley Public Library Trustees strongly support the proposed override on April 14th. Without full funding, the library will face reductions in staff and operating hours, directly impacting the level of service provided to the community. Further without the override, the proposed FY27 budget would fail to meet both the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioner’s (MBLC) Municipal Appropriation Requirement and the MBLC’s Minimum Standards of Free Public Library Service.

Adequate funding is critical to maintaining the library’s certification status. MBLC certification secures access to vital state funding and allows the library to apply for state grants and permits participation in the interlibrary loan network.

Voting in favor of the override is an investment in South Hadley’s future. Passing an override preserves equitable access to information, and ensures that the library remains a vibrant and indispensable resources for all in our community.

Recommended an $11 million override.

Highlights risks to Senior Center services, staffing, and programs without an override.

I support the override because I have seen, behind the scenes, the work that has been done for years to correct some financial missteps of the past, and to help build a better South Hadley for the future. I have seen the pressures the town is facing–some we can address ourselves, and some which require outside help. I believe in the plan South Hadley’s officials and administrators have for the future, and this override will help make that a reality.

Warns a failed override could cost South Hadley library funding and interlibrary access.

Supports both override options as an investment in the town’s future.

Mark Gosselin writes about the very real risks to South Hadley’s future if the override doesn’t pass, and argues for keeping South Hadley a strong, liveable community.

South Hadley students deserve better. Year after year of cuts being the town norm are creating real problems for our students and our community. With even deeper cuts in our immediate future, we as adults need to step up and bear the financial burden to do right by our kids (and they are ALL our kids). I don’t claim it’s an easy decision, but I strongly believe it’s the right one.

As a resident of South Hadley, I support the Proposition 2½ override. I’ve seen firsthand how tight budgets impact our schools and town services. I believe this investment is necessary to protect our schools, public safety, and essential town services our community depends on. For me, this is about being proactive and ensuring we don’t fall behind or face deeper cuts down the road. Supporting the override is one way to preserve the quality of life and ensure South Hadley is a place families and businesses want to stay.

For decades, inflation has outpaced the legal limit of 2 1/2 percent growth in South Hadley’s budget. The town and schools have been squeezed year after year, with continuous cuts. The schools especially can’t lose any more without doing great harm to our kids. It’s time for South Hadley to step up and keep our promises to our children and our future.

I support the override because it gives South Hadley the resources needed to maintain essential services while we work to address longer-term structural challenges. It’s a permanent change to our tax base, but without it, the impacts to our schools, public safety, and community services will be immediate and significant. This is also a moment to invest in how we show up as a community and take shared responsibility for the town’s future.

As a homeowner and the parent of two school aged children, we need this override to support our kids’ education. Also, investing in the school is investing in the town and will keep making South Hadley a place where folks want to live.

You are my community and I am yours, and I am voting YES ON BOTH Questions 1a and 1b for the override on April 14. Despite the real hardship of costs that worry me, our town tank can’t run without fuel-I can’t see any way around this fact. We need ALL the things we will lose without it, and kids growing up without sports and after school activities is a line I just can’t cross.

I am an educator in Holyoke and my child is an 8th Grader at the Michael E. Smith Middle School, and has been a Tiger her entire life. Over the years she has seen the impact of repeated budget cuts on her schools: increasingly limited art and music classes, shrinking availability of extracurricular opportunities, fewer paraeducators to support for the kids with the most needs. She asked me a few months ago, ‘Dad, does our town even care about education? Do they even want us to go to good schools?’ Show my daughter that South Hadley will invest in the education of our kids by voting yes on 1A and 1B on April 14th.

As a 20-year classroom educator and step-parent to a middle school student in South Hadley, I know first-hand how important municipal budgets are for creating safe, healthy public schools. I’ve worked in overcrowded classrooms. I’ve seen students lose motivation in school when their options for extracurriculars are cut. We have a collective responsibility to provide the funds to create joyful, healthy schools that every student looks forward to attending. We also have a responsibility to each other to make sure that our town services are robust and effective and that our municipal employees are paid well and have stable jobs. Please join me in voting yes on Questions 1a and 1b on April 14th. Yes and Yes for investment in South Hadley.

As a parent of two school-aged children, I strongly support the override because I believe investing in our schools is essential to their success and well-being. I also have two elderly parents living in town, and it’s important to me that South Hadley remains a community that can support residents at every stage of life. Supporting this override is about maintaining the quality of services and education that make our town strong. I want to help ensure there is a stable and vibrant future for South Hadley for generations to come.

Our kids deserve to learn in reasonably sized classes where they can get the attention and support they need to succeed. If the override doesn’t pass, class sizes will grow too large and that impacts every student’s ability to focus and learn.

I support the override because it protects against slower emergency response times and cuts to essential senior services, while recognizing that students—among those most affected—cannot vote to represent their own interests.

For me, our library is an anchor of sanity and sustenance. It speaks volumes about our priorities as a town and together with schools, can be a major factor in choosing to live here.

I moved to South Hadley 12 years ago to give my son a slower, more stable life, and it gave us something more than I could have imagined , a true sense of community. I’m voting yes on the override because protecting what makes this town feel like home is worth investing in.

I grew up in South Hadley and went through the South Hadley school system myself. It wasn’t until I moved away and pursued a career in education that I realized just how strong of an education I had received.
Now I have three kids who will go through these same schools, and I keep thinking about what their experience will look like. I want them to have the same, if not better, opportunities and experiences than I had. That is not the direction we are heading in right now.
For years, we have been cutting from our schools. It did not all happen at once, but little by little we have lost staff, programs, supports, and opportunities. We are at the point where there is nothing left to cut without further harming students, because that harm is already happening.
A “no” vote doesn’t keep things the same. A vote “no” guarantees further cuts. Larger class sizes. Fewer supports. Fewer opportunities for our kids.
A “yes” vote stabilizes our schools. It protects what we have left and gives us a chance to rebuild something strong, something competitive, something our community can be proud of.
I’m voting yes because our students, our seniors, and everyone in our community deserve to live in a town that invests in them.