Mount Greylock Gets 6-Week Reprieve From NEASC

By Stephen Dravis Williamstown Correspondent
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The high school's accrediting agency has asked for a progress report on 16 areas of concern by mid-January.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Mount Greylock Regional High School's accrediting agency has given the school until the middle of January to provide a "special progress report" explaining why its accreditation should not be revoked.

Because of many outstanding issues with the condition of the aging school building, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges last year warned the district that its accreditation might be pulled.

A NEASC delegation visited the school last month and two weeks ago sent the district a letter asking it to submit a progress report by Dec. 1. At Tuesday's meeting of the Mount Greylock School Committee, District Superintendent Rose Ellis and newly elected Cairwoman Carolyn Greene told committee members that NEASC has extended that deadline.

"They had said Dec. 1 because they were waiting for MSBA," Ellis told the committee.

The Massachusetts School Building Authority, which funds construction projects throughout the commonwealth, on Nov. 7 announced that Mount Greylock would not be considered for the current funding cycle.

Now that a comprehensive approach to the building's deficiencies (most likely by building anew) is off the table, the accrediting agency wants to see the district approach some of the most critical concerns on a piecemeal basis.

"I talked to the director [of NEASC], and she said their concern was that nothing had been done on the building for a number of years," Ellis said. "They're looking for reasonable progress and a reasonable timeline."

In its Nov. 7 letter, NEASC listed 16 specific areas of concern. One caught the eye of committee member David Langston.

"[T]he Committee noted with grave concern the magnitude and plethora of old, unorganized, and even unidentified and unsecured chemicals throughout all areas of the science wing which present health and safety concerns for all building occupants," the NEASC letter reads.

"I was surprised and upset by that," Langston said. "That, to me, is not a question of the building. It's a question of the staff not being on the ball."

In response to questioning from Langston, Ellis said she is still learning about the chemicals herself and that the chemicals are being inventoried and the school will contract with an outside vendor to take care of disposal. She also emphasized that the chemicals in question were not in classrooms.


"So by Christmas, the vendor will have come and cleaned it out?" Langston asked.

"I would think so," Ellis said.

As for the rest of the deficiencies identified by NEASC, the district's building subcommittee is preparing a spreadsheet of specific projects with estimated costs and will discuss that document at its next meeting on Nov. 29, said Greene, who sits on that subcommittee and on Tuesday was elevated to School Committee chairman.

After that discussion, the subcommittee will present its recommendations to the full School Committee at its next scheduled meeting on Dec. 18, Greene said.


Carolyn Greene was elected chairman of the committee and Sheila Hebert was sworn in as a Lanesborough representative at Tuesday's meeting.
Greene reaffirmed the district's commitment to submit another "statement of interest" with the MSBA, a quasi-independent government authority funded by a portion of the state sales tax.

Ellis and members of the building subcommittee went to the MSBA's recent board meeting in Boston and received feedback that will help the district craft a better proposal next time around, Greene said.

In other business on Tuesday, newly elected committee member Sheila Hebert of Lanesborough was elected the panel's vice chairman as part of its annual reorganization, and the committee welcomed new member Colleen Taylor of Williamstown.

Prior to the meeting, a joint meeting of the School Committee and the Boards of Selectmen of Williamstown and Lanesborough appointed Chris Dodig to fill a seat previously occupied by Hebert. Hebert was forced to resign from a position on the board to which she was appointed (to fill out the unexpired term of a resigning member) when she was elected to the committee in her own right in November.

The committee also discussed new evaluation procedures for administrators and teachers and heard reports on two innovative educational programs at the school: the Williams Center at Mount Greylock and the efforts of the school's recently hired digital and media learning specialist, Richard Scullin.

Tags: MGRHS,   MSBA,   NEASC,   

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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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