Town Government
School Committee & Superintendent
The Superintendent
Brian Cameron
About 1,965 students start their day in this district, and one person answers for all of it. Brian Cameron is the district’s Superintendent. He proposes the school budget, sets academic priorities, and runs the district day to day. The Superintendent is hired by and reports to the elected School Committee, which evaluates him against goals it publishes and votes on. Note what that means for the money: the school department’s budget is the one large piece of town spending the Town Manager does not build. It comes from the Superintendent to the School Committee, and then to the same Town Meeting that votes everything else, as its own article on the warrant. In 2026 that article was 8D, it asked for $36,281,955, and it carried 133 to 58.
| Role | Superintendent of Schools |
|---|---|
| Office | 14 Maple Street, Belchertown, MA 01007 |
| Phone | 413-323-0423 |
| Website | belchertownps.org |
The School Committee
The Belchertown School Committee has five members, all elected town-wide to staggered three year terms. Belchertown is a single-town district, so all five answer to Belchertown voters and nobody else. The committee sets district policy, approves the school budget, and hires and evaluates the Superintendent. It publishes its own officers, and its titles are Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary. It reorganized after the 2026 election at its meeting of May 26. Meetings are open, which means a Belchertown student who shows up can speak.
Heidi Gutekenst
Hope Guardenier
Jacob Hulseberg
Ruby Bansal
Dr. Amy Wilson LaMothe
To raise something that is not on the agenda, the committee asks residents to contact the Superintendent’s office first, at 413-323-0423, so the item can be placed where it can actually be acted on.
The District at a Glance
- Enrollment: 1,965 students, PreK through 12.
- High school: Belchertown High.
- Graduation rate: 89.7%.
- State data: DESE profile (code 00240000).
Belchertown students have a second public option that has its own ballot line. The town is a member of the Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical High School District, and Belchertown voters elect two members to that district’s committee, on November terms rather than May ones. Annual Town Meeting appropriated $1,480,362 for the Pathfinder assessment in 2026, as article 8E, and it carried 172 to 21.
Meetings & Participation
- When: typically at 6:00 PM at Chestnut Hill Community School, 59 State Street. The district publishes the schedule a year at a time and posts the location beside each agenda, because it does move.
- Public comment: the committee takes comment on items that are on that meeting’s agenda. For anything else, the route is the Superintendent’s office.
- Agendas and minutes: posted on the district’s own School Committee page as they become available, alongside four standing subcommittees on curriculum, finance, personnel and property.
- Watch: Belchertown Community TV carries town meetings and public meetings live and on demand.
Curious how a bill becomes law, or how students can take on a civics project?