District overview
Gill-Montague Regional School District
How a small two-town regional district is funded, run, and building for the future.
Who runs a regional school district, and who pays for it?
Gill-Montague is not one town's school district -- it is a regional district created by an agreement between the Town of Gill and the Town of Montague. A single nine-member School Committee runs all five schools, and every voter in both towns can vote for any seat, but by agreement six seats belong to Montague residents and three to Gill residents. The Town of Erving is not a member town: it pays the district tuition to send its grades 7-12 students to Great Falls Middle School and Turners Falls High School, and in exchange Erving's own school committee appoints up to three non-voting advisory members here. The committee can adopt a budget, but adopting is not the same as funding it -- the actual dollars still have to be approved by Town Meeting voters in Gill and in Montague each May.
Nine elected members, split by town
Six committee seats are Montague residents and three are Gill residents, all elected district-wide; Erving contributes up to three non-voting advisory members instead of full seats, since it only sends older students here under a tuition agreement.
A 50-year-old cost-sharing formula
Since fiscal year 2010, an agreement called "The Compact" has set Montague's share of its available local revenue that goes to the district at 48.5%; Gill's assessment is then calculated to increase at a matching rate.
The committee votes first, the towns vote last
State law requires the School Committee to adopt the budget by a two-thirds vote at least 45 days before the first town meeting and no later than March 31. Montague's town meeting is the first Saturday in May and Gill's is the first Monday in May.
A town can still say no to extra money
On March 10, 2026 the committee had to send a $163,748 item for instructional materials and the Sheffield afterschool program to Montague's town meeting as a separate article, rather than folding it into the main assessment -- meaning that piece of the FY27 budget was not guaranteed until town meeting voters acted on it directly.
A shared regional committee does not mean either town loses its say: both Select Boards and Finance Committees meet jointly with the School Committee every February on the budget, and no assessment becomes real spending money until each town's own town meeting votes to fund it.
Where the district stands
Up 3.4% from the $24,953,853 the towns funded for FY26. Passed 8-1.
The gap closed before adoption by leaving 18.5 requested positions unfunded and drawing on reserves, not by a matching revenue increase.
Requested for behavioral health, early education, and special education.
Financed by district borrowing; up to 77.47% may be reimbursed by the state if a construction grant is awarded.
Set by the towns' 2010 agreement known as "The Compact"; Gill's assessment is calculated to rise at a matching rate.
Down from 1,072 in FY20, a drop of about 17% in seven years. Foundation enrollment counts every Gill and Montague resident student, including those who attend elsewhere.
Compared with a statewide average of 41.1% cited in the same presentation.
2024-25 count from the federal Common Core of Data, a different measure than the district's own foundation or in-district enrollment figures above.
Major projects
Hillcrest Elementary replacement (MSBA Statement of Interest)
Early planning -- no funding committed yetThe committee filed a Statement of Interest with the state's school building authority for Hillcrest Elementary, citing severe overcrowding that has pushed support services out of their normal rooms, and signed separate paperwork certifying the building could be closed.
- Statement of Interest and school-closure certification authorized
Funding
Not yet determined; a future state (MSBA) construction grant would be discretionary and is not guaranteed by filing
Gill Elementary roof replacement and accessibility upgrade
Funded and authorized to borrowThe committee appropriated $3,798,130, paid for by district borrowing, to replace the roof and bring Gill Elementary into accessibility compliance.
- $3,798,130 appropriation and borrowing authorization voted
Funding
District borrowing under M.G.L. c. 71, section 16(d), with up to 77.47% of eligible costs potentially reimbursed by an MSBA grant
Permanent superintendent search
Paused -- interim leadership continues for a second yearAfter interviewing finalists in February 2026, the committee did not hire a permanent superintendent. It voted instead to bring interim superintendent Tari N. Thomas's name forward for a second year, through 2026-2027, and approved her 2026-2027 contract negotiation in June.
- Committee votes to reopen the search process with an interim or permanent hire
- Tari N. Thomas's name brought forward as interim superintendent for 2026-2027
- Interim superintendent's 2026-2027 contract negotiation approved
Funding
Not applicable -- a personnel and staffing process, not a capital or grant-funded project
Built from every agenda, minutes, and budget document the School Committee's own published archive linked for the twelve months ending August 19, 2026, plus the district's official school committee directory page for governance and roster facts. Figures above are tied to specific stored documents.
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