Amherst officials eye cuts at elementary schools Children board buses Tuesday at Wildwood School in Amherst. GAZETTE FILE PHOTO By SCOTT MERZBACH AMHERST — The town’s elementary schools will not be able to offer the same level of services in the next school year as officials intend to reduce spending to be aligned with the mandated budget increase set by the town’s Finance Committee. More than $500,000 will have to be cut from a budget that would need to rise by $837,070 — from $23.9 million this year to $24.75 million — to maintain existing programming. “That’s a pretty sizable series of cuts we’re going to need to make,” Douglas Slaughter, the finance director for the schools, told the Amherst School Committee on Feb. 22.