Funding formula remains hot-button topic for regional schools Amherst Regional High School GAZETTE FILE PHOTO Published: 2/9/2021 12:34:09 PM AMHERST — Amherst officials are becoming increasingly concerned with efforts to revise the formula by which the four Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools member towns contribute to its operating budget. The options take into account not only enrollment but each of the four towns’ ability to pay. At a meeting of the four towns Saturday to discuss the projected $32.01 million budget for fiscal year 2022, and what each town should pay to educate students at the middle and high schools, Amherst At-Large Councilor Andy Steinberg said moving away from the formula of a 5-year rolling average of enrollment to a more complex method determined by the state could lead to the district’s demise.