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Clarksburg passed all the articles in its town warrant.

Clarksburg OKs $3.5M Budget for 2011

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
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Robert Norcross expresses his disappointment that teachers had not had to sacrifice like other town employees. Seated in front of him are Superintendent Jonathan Lev, left, and School Committee members David Berger and Jeff Levanos.
CLARKSBURG, Mass. — Voters passed a $2.3 million school budget for the coming year at Wednesday's town meeting but not without several sharp comments directed toward teacher salaries.

The town meeting also passed a town budget of $967,570 and an assessment of $169,541 to the Northern Berkshire Vocational School District. The rest of the 17-article warrant passed with little or no discussion. Fewer than 20 voters attended this year's meeting at the elementary school.

The school district budget, however, evoked some angry comments over salary raises in the current three-year contract. At last town meeting, some of the same people had objected to the teachers taking salary increases while other town employees had their wages frozen and took two weeks of unpaid furlough.

"I'm not here to bash the teachers ... but once again the teachers escaped any sacrifice," said Robert Norcross, after learning the School Committee had negotiated a new three-year contract that guaranteed annual 2 percent wage increases. The last contract was for 3 percent hikes. Norcross said the committee wasn't acting in the best interests of the town. "They're not advocates for the school, they're elected advocates for the town ... we should all suffer together."

Northern Berkshire School Union Superintendent Jonathan Lev said the school budget was $68,000 lower than last year. "The kids are high quality ... they're usually the valedictorians. We should be proud of the kids coming out of the school and it's the teachers that are doing it."

Clarksburg resident and past president of the North Adams Teachers Association Christopher Caproni said the quality of the school is a major factor in attracting families and keeping real estate values high.


Selectman Carl McKinney said the town's side of the budget was smaller than it was eight years ago.
"We don't have any industry; the school is our industry," said Caproni, a music teacher whose two children will both be attending the school next fall. "I could confidently put my house on the market tomorrow and get more than fair-market value because a couple my age would buy it because of the school."

Lev said the school district spending is down some $62,000 over this year. "We have made cuts; we can't go any lower.

"We need the input from the people of Clarksburg ... that is why the School Committee exists," he continued, saying the committee would welcome input during budget meetings. The School Committee meets the first Thursday of the month at 5:15 at the school; its meeting schedule is posted in Town Hall.

After about 20 minutes of back and forth, and no suggestions of cuts, the budget was passed without opposition. "I just wanted to bring it up for discussion," said Norcross.

Voters also authorized borrowing up to $500,000 for a STRAP grant in anticipation of full reimbursement from the state to resurface West Cross, Middle and Daniels roads and spending $20,000 toward feasibility studies for grant applications.

They also approved a transfer of $10,000 from the sewer enterprise fund into the general fund as the first in an expected series of repayments totaling $30,000.

Selectmen touched briefly on the outcome of the town election on Tuesday that saw voters give final approval to appointing a tax collector (140-137) and a treasurer (138-137). Changing those two elected positions, as well as the town clerk position, were approved by petition at last year's town meeting. However, voters rejected the idea of making the town clerk appointed by 143-133 and overwhelmingly returned Carol A. Jammalo to the position against challenger Melissa McGovern-Wandrei, the tax collector, by 217-65.

The tax collector's term ends next year and the treasurer's the year after. Town Administrator Michael Canales had put together a scenario should all three positions become appointed. Selectman Carl McKinney anticipated one full-time position would created out of the two part-time elected ones.

Also re-elected Tuesday were Selectwoman Debora LeFave, Moderator Bryan H. Tanner, School Committee member David Woods, McCann School Committee member Richard Bernardi, Tree Warden Ernest Dix, Library Trustee Rose Marie Peter and War Memorial Trustee Allen Goodrich. Winning with write-in votes to vacant seats were Gregory Vigna with nine votes for a three-year seat on the Board of Health and David Delano with four votes for a five-year seat on the Planning Board.
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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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