PITTSFIELD - It’s back to the drawing board after the Pittsfield City Council rejected the latest school budget proposal this week.

Ward 1 City Councilor Helen Moon says she voted against it because of the 26 proposed layoffs and how they would impact students.

“They haven’t been to school in three months, and now we’re going to take away the supports that they would need to succeed, and I didn’t think that was the best budget that the school committee could bring forward," Moon said.

School Committee chair Katherine Yon said they’re bracing for job cuts because they still don’t know the level of state funding they’ll receive.

Adding to the uncertainty is the increased cost of safety measures should schools open for in-person classes in the fall.

“We’ve looked at ordering masks, we might have to order thermometers, gloves, cleaning supplies, all of that. Busing could conceivably be more," Yon said.

Moon says she’d like to see the city dip into its free cash reserves and economic development funds. Moon said, “There’s an argument that that’s not economic development, and I kind of think that saving jobs is, especially during a pandemic. So there’s a number of different options.”

Yon says she’s not sure what additional funding the city will actually be able to provide…

And would prefer to see the federal government step in.

“I really don’t think the federal government has stepped up to the plate here," Yon said. "So far out of the CARES Act, we’ve had $13 billion in educational stabilization funding … and that $13 billion only represents less than half of one percent of everything that was in the CARES Act.”