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More than 500 voters attended Saturday's special town meeting.
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Registration was set up by road to facilitate voting.
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One-way live feeds were set up in six classrooms upstairs.
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The vote to move to a secret ballot without discussion.
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Town Moderator Bryan Tanner shows that the voting box is empty.
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The discard ballot box was also explained.
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Clarksburg School Project Defeated in Record Turnout

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
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Town Clerk Carol Jammalo, at right in red, swears in assistants on Saturday to help with running the special town meeting.
CLARKSBURG, Mass. — The controversial $19 million school project went down to defeat on Saturday by 292-263.
 
The borrowing authorization required a two-thirds vote to pass, or 370 yes votes out of the 555 cast. 
 
The result was a flip of September's special town meeting vote that saw the project fail to capture two-thirds of the ballots by a single vote. 
 
School Superintendent Jon Lev said he had previously posted a meeting of the School Building Committee for 5 p.m. on Monday.
 
"We're going to meet and talk about it," he said. 
 
Selectmen Chairman Jeffrey Levanos said he anticipated another petition for a third vote. 
 
"I think at this point, all the informational meetings have been done," he said.  "It's just a matter of trying to sway people ... This obviously speaks volumes of the way Clarksburg feels."
 
Supporters of the project had hope to swing a few more votes their way after gathering more than 300 signatures to petition for a second special town meeting. But as the town's financial picture became clearer, the initial yes votes began to switch. 
 
One hundred more people voted this time, and the division in town could be seen in the results that nearly split down the middle on the renovatoin/addition proposal. 
 
The town would be responsible for some $7.7 million of the project that over the anticipated 40-year loan period would cost this rural town of less than 1,700 about $15 million. Those figures led voters to reject what Moderator Bryan Tanner on Saturday described as a project whose "scope is unprecedented" in the town's history.
 
"I am very pleased, I think the town has spoken," said Karin Robert, who had pressed officials about the project's impact on town finances. "I would really like to get a committee together of town people to work with the issues of the school and move forward to fix and repair."
 
Eric Booth, who had initially been on the School Building Committee when it first formed, felt the first three information sessions hosted by that committee had not fully examined what the $350,000 a year in loan payments would mean.
 
Town officials had held three more sessions after the revote was scheduled to air out any concerns about the town's finances. 
 
"After the last three meetings, people were able to make a more conscious decision of what was actually going to happen," he said. "It was a majority that went the opposite way."
 
Booth said he's willing to volunteer his own time and expertise and has a list of electricians, carpenters, plumbers and HVAC technicians "willing to come together to help us out."
 
It's not clear how these volunteers will square with laws and codes related to public buildings, but a number of residents are sure they can work something out. 
 
The Massachusetts School Building Authority has approved a plan to add about 10,000 square feet (mostly a gym) and fully renovate the structure, including rebuilding the 1970s section to accommodate a preschool. The MSBA is committing up to $11.3 million (70 percent) toward eligible reimbursements; the town would be responsible for up to $7.7 million.
 
Estimates to repair the most immediate issues — mechanicals and the roof — was set at $4 million and to renovate just the structure with no additions, $11 million.
 
Clarksburg had been waiting nearly a decade to be invited into the program to deal with its outdated and undersized school. Proponents on Saturday wore name-tag stickers with photos of children, names of children or grandchildren, or declarations like "our future" or "For the Children."
 
Voting took about an hour and then another half hour or so to count the 555 ballots cast. Unlike September's somewhat chaotic vote, this Saturday afternoon special town meeting was planned out the smallest detail, like a mini D-Day. 
 
Parking was held offsite as much as possible with two DuFour short buses shuttling residents from the Senior Center, Town Hall and the Fire Station. Rather than registering on entrance, voters went up one six registers based on what road they lived on just before they voted. The ballots were the same as the last time — one perforated card with yes and no printed on it.
 
Six classrooms were opened (and filled) with a livestream feed from the cafeteria where the motions were being made. Twenty-five volunteers were sworn to aid in voting directions and to assist Robert Norcross, serving as assistant moderator upstairs, with residents seated in the classrooms. Each room had a moderator. 
 
Tanner and Norcross were kept in communication by hand radio.
 
Tanner spent time at the opening of the meeting walking voters through the entire process, including having Raymond Moulthrop, keeper of the ballots, and Al Nelson, keeper of the discarded ballots, rise and show their empty respective recepticals. 
 
"Mr. Moulthrop is the actual voting mechanism for this meeting," he said. "Make sure your vote is accurate the first time."
 
There had been complaints about the last voting of people keeping their discarded ballots because of concerns they would be mixed in with counted ones, and murmered accusations about who was doing the counting. 
 
Town Clerk Carol Jammalo had both the cast and discarded ballots counted and the counters for the yes and no votes switch over to doublecheck each other. 
 
Most of those voting left as soon as they cast their ballots. 
 
The borrowing article, the only question on the warrant, was read and motioned by Patricia Prenguber, a member of both the School and School Building committees. It was seconded by Select Board member Kimberly Goodell. Mark Denault, who affirmed he had rejoined the Finance Committee, motioned to move the question to an immediate vote and that was seconded by a host of voices. 
 
A hand vote approved the motion both upstairs and downstairs (unanimiously in that case.)
 
Tanner closed voting at 4:25, about 90 minutes after the start of the meeting. 
 
Robert said she hopes the town can come together now. 
 
"We have to put our energies together, to heal as a town come together as a community and fix this school in the best way we can in a manageable, feasible, affordable way that all residents can live with," she said. 

 


Tags: Clarksburg school project,   

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Crosby/Conte Statement of Interest Gets OK From Council

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Architect Carl Franceschi and Superintendent Joseph Curtis address the City Council on Tuesday.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With the approval of all necessary bodies, the school district will submit a statement of interest for a combined build on the site of Crosby Elementary School.

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously gave Superintendent Joseph Curtis the green light for the SOI to the Massachusetts School Building Authority by April 12.

"The statement I would make is we should have learned by our mistakes in the past," Mayor Peter Marchetti said.

"Twenty years ago, we could have built a wastewater treatment plant a lot cheaper than we could a couple of years ago and we can wait 10 years and get in line to build a new school or we can start now and, hopefully, when we get into that process and be able to do it cheaper then we can do a decade from now."

The proposal rebuilds Conte Community School and Crosby on the West Street site with shared facilities, as both have outdated campuses, insufficient layouts, and need significant repair. A rough timeline shows a feasibility study in 2026 with design and construction ranging from 2027 to 2028.

Following the SOI, the next step would be a feasibility study to determine the specific needs and parameters of the project, costing about $1.5 million and partially covered by the state. There is a potential for 80 percent reimbursement through the MSBA, who will decide on the project by the end of the year.

Earlier this month, city officials took a tour of both schools — some were shocked at the conditions students are learning in.

Silvio O. Conte Community School, built in 1974, is a 69,500 square foot open-concept facility that was popular in the 1960s and 1970s but the quad classroom layout poses educational and security risks.  John C. Crosby Elementary School, built in 1962, is about 69,800 square feet and was built as a junior high school so several aspects had to be adapted for elementary use.

Ward 6 Councilor Dina Lampiasi said the walkthrough was "striking" at points, particularly at Conte, and had her thinking there was no way she would want her child educated there. She recognized that not everyone has the ability to choose where their child goes to school and "we need to do better."

"The two facilities that we are looking at I think are a great place to start," she said.

"As the Ward 6 councilor, this is where my residents and my students are going to school so selfishly yes, I want to see this project happen but looking at how we are educating Pittsfield students, this is going to give us a big bang for our buck and it's going to help improve the educational experience of a vast group of students in our city."

During the tour, Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey, saw where it could be difficult to pay attention in an open classroom with so much going on and imagined the struggle for students.

Councilor at Large Alisa Costa said, "we cannot afford not to do this" because the city needs schools that people want their children to attend.

"I know that every financial decision we make is tough but we have to figure this out. If the roof on your house were crumbling in, you'd have to figure it out and that's where we're at and we can't afford to wait any longer," she said.

"We can't afford for the sake of the children going to our schools, for the sake of our city that we want to see grow so we have to build a city where people want to go."

Councilor at Large Kathy Amuso, who served on the School Building Needs Commission for about 18 years, pointed out that the panel identified a need to address Conte in 2008.

Curtis addressed questions about the fate of Conte if the build were to happen, explaining that it could be kept as an active space for community use, house the Eagle Academy or the Adult Learning Center, or house the central offices.

School attendance zones are a point of discussion for the entire school district and for this project.

"At one time I think we had 36 school buildings and now we have essentially 12 and then it would go down again but in a thoughtful way," Curtis said.

Currently, eight attendance zones designate where a student will go to elementary school. Part of the vision is to collapse those zones into three with hopes of building a plan that incorporates partner schools in each attendance zone.

"I think that going from eight schools to three would be easier to maintain and I think it would make more sense but in order to get there we will have to build these buildings and we will have to spend money," Kavey said, hoping that the city would receive the 80 percent reimbursement it is vying for.

This plan for West Street, which is subject to change, has the potential to house grades pre-kindergarten to first grade in one school and Grades 2 to 4 in another with both having their own identities and administrations. 

The districtwide vision for middle school students is to divide all students into a grade five and six school and a grade seven and eight school to ensure equity.

"The vagueness of what that looks like is worrisome to some folks that I have talked to," Lampiasi said.

Curtis emphasized that these changes would have to be voted on by the School Committee and include public input.

"We've talked about it conceptually just to illustrate a possible grade span allocation," he said. "No decisions have been made at all by the School Committee, even the grade-span proposals."

School Committee Chair William Cameron said it is civic duty of the committee and council to move forward with the SOI.
 
He explained that when seven of the city's schools were renovated in the late 1990s, the community schools were only 25 years old and Crosby was 35 years old.  The commonwealth did not deem them to be sorely in need of renovation or replacement.
 
"Now 25 years later, Crosby is physically decrepit and an eyesore. It houses students ages three to 11 in a facility meant for use by teenagers,"
 
"Conte and Morningside opened in the mid-1970s. They were built as then state-of-the-art schools featuring large elongated rectangles of open instructional space. Over almost half a century, these physical arrangements have proven to be inadequate for teaching core academic skills effectively to students, many of whom need extra services and a distraction-free environment if they are to realize their full academic potential."
 
He said  the proposal addresses a serious problem in the "economically poorest, most ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse area" of the city.
 
Cameron added that these facilities have been deemed unsatisfactory and need to be replaced as part of the project to reimagine how the city can best meet the educational needs of its students.  He said it is the local government's job to move this project forward to ensure that children learn in an environment that is conducive to their thriving academically.
 
"The process of meeting this responsibility needs to begin here tonight," he said.
 
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