Clarksburg Board Endorses School Project Application

CLARKSBURG, Mass. — The Selectmen on Wednesday night unanimously approved the School Committee's application to the Massachusetts School Building Authority.

The condition of the kindergarten-through-Grade 8 school has been of concern for some years and the school district last submitted an SOI in 2010. No significant renovations or reconstruction has been done since 1970, although two classrooms were added in 1977.

The town has been putting money away in a stabilization account to ensure it would have enough to fund its share of a feasibility study.

Selectmen Chairman Carl McKinney noted that the kindergarten addition was a 20-year construction but was built 40 years ago. Principal Linda Reardon said the school's gym (really a multipurpose room) is only one-third the state's recommended size.

The 2013 SOI calls for the replacement or renovation of the 60-year-old building. The letter and the Selectmen's certified vote must be submitted to the MSBA by April 10 to be considered in the next round. The feasibility study would be undertaken once invited into the program.

Submitting the SOI is no guarantee of selection: It was passed over before. Mount Greylock Regional High School also failed to be selected in the last round and has sent in an updated statement.

A new school could take into account the desire for a preschool expressed by the 83 residents who signed a petition by Kim Rougeau, and the nearly dozen who attended the Wednesday's meeting in support.

"It's been my concern for many years there was no preschool in Clarksburg," said Rougeau, who has taken her son and daughter to the program in Stamford, Vt. "It saddens me in our town we don't having anything for the youngest of our community."

Rougeau's idea was to use some of the space available in Town Hall since the school has no room. Officials have been consolidating departments and opening up room they would like to lease for revenue. The preschool could be self-supporting, similar to Stamford, depending on the number of children and tuition rate.

McKinney said he was supportive but thought Rougeau's idea of asking for money out of the school stabilization fund to have a contractor or engineer reveiw and estimate cost was problematic since it would require a two-thirds vote at town meeting.  

He suggested she put a committee together first to research the idea. "I know they can be laborious but there are a lot of issues," he said. He said he would support putting a separate article on the town meeting warrant to take funds from free cash or to raise and appropriate (which would raise the tax rate) to fund a design.

Cost, Access to NBCTC High Among Concerns North Berkshire Residents

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
06:15PM / Thursday, April 25, 2024

Adams Select Chair Christine Hoyt, NBCTC Executive Director David Fabiano and William Solomon, the attorney representing the four communities, talk after the session. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Public access channels should be supported and made more available to the public — and not be subject to a charge.

 

More than three dozen community members in-person and online attended the public hearing  Wednesday on public access and service from Spectrum/Charter Communications. The session at City Hall was held for residents in Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg and North Adams to express their concerns to Spectrum ahead of another 10-year contract that starts in October.

 

Listening via Zoom but not speaking was Jennifer Young, director state government affairs at Charter.

 

One speaker after another conveyed how critical local access television is to the community and emphasized the need for affordable and reliable services, particularly for vulnerable populations like the elderly. 

 

"I don't know if everybody else feels the same way but they have a monopoly," said Clarksburg resident David Emery. "They control everything we do because there's nobody else to go to. You're stuck with with them."

 

Public access television, like the 30-year-old Northern Berkshire Community Television, is funded by cable television companies through franchise fees, member fees, grants and contributions.

 

Spectrum is the only cable provider in the region and while residents can shift to satellite providers or streaming, Northern Berkshire Community Television is not available on those alternatives and they may not be easy for some to navigate. For instance, the Spectrum app is available on smart televisions but it doesn't include PEG, the public, educational and governmental channels provided by NBCTC.