Finance Committee, Selectmen See ACRSD Proposed Budget

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
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Educators and community members attended a joint meeting of school and Adams town officials to discuss a school budget that could trigger Proposition 2 1/2 overrides — or cut 25 positions and academic programming.

CHESHIRE, Mass. —  School officials laid out their case for a $19 million budget at a joint meeting of the Finance Committee and Selectmen on Thursday night.

Teachers, School Committee members, parents and administrators packed into the Hoosac Valley High School library to discuss the consequences of draconian cuts if the budget fails to pass.

The administration of the Adams-Cheshire Regional School District has proposed a budget that — although nearly leveled funded — asks for an $800,000 assessment increase between the two towns to save 25 positions that would be otherwise cut.

The proposed budget would cost Adams $5,143,382; this is an increase of $542,082. Cheshire would be responsible for $2,465,747; this is a $197,291 increase. Adams Selectmen recommended last week a town budget with an estimated regional school assessment of $4.8 million.

Superintendent Kristen Gordon said she felt she needed to show what would happen if the proposed budget was not accepted for transparency. She said the cuts would be so severe that people need to be informed.  

"We want to be really clear about what is going to happen when their kids walk in on September second," Gordon said. "I want to make sure we are transparent because these are big, big cuts."

Principal Jerimiah Ames said the school lost a librarian, math teacher, and a science teacher last year. If the proposed budget does not go through, Hoosac Valley will be looking at reducing a social studies teacher, an English teacher, a special education instructor, two middle school teachers, two support staff members, and about eight paraprofessionals.  

He said this would reduce the number of levels of classes offered from four to two; Hoosac Valley would only offer Advanced Placement and College Prep courses. He said class size will jump to 30.

He said electives would be "stripped down" to necessities needed for graduation and instead of offering six explorative classes at the middle school level there would be four.   

Professional development and extracurricular trips would not be funded with the cuts.

He said these cuts would strongly limit the school's ability to expand and become a higher level school.

"If we are forced to make these cuts … we limit our ability to attract and retain students and quality faculty members," Ames said. "I sincerely hope that we are not brought down this path."

C.T. Plunkett Principal Michelle Colvin said if the budget does not pass, class size will jump to nearly 25 and the school would lose many of the reading and math coaches needed.

"If this budget doesn't pass, many of these skilled and needed instructors will go away and our students won't receive the support or instruction in the small group prescriptive setting," Colvin said. "Our students would have to make do with less."

She said these cuts would continue the trend of teachers having to do more with fewer resources. She said this will reach a limit the more that is cut.

"I don't think there are many teachers, staff, and administrators that don't wear multiple hats in the district due to the consolidation of roles," she said. "We are trying to do more and take on more to try to help out students avoid having to have to make due with less."

If Adams chose to accept the budget, it would trigger a Proposition 2 1/2 override. Town Administrator Tony Mazzucco said an override would not solve the town's problem and, next year, they would still have to cut the budget because the town's revenue does not keep up with its expenses.

"I think our students need the best schools we can afford, but we have to find a way to fund the schools we have," Mazzucco said. "We have a school budget and town budget, but we are one community and it is about the discussion of what we as a community feel we can afford."

School Committee member Joshua Demarsico-Birkland, speaking for himself and not on behalf of the committee, advocated for Adams changing the proportion of its budget that funds the school instead of going for a 2 1/2 override. He requested using 45 percent of the Adams budget instead of 37 percent to fund education. He promoted limiting the number of days Town Hall is open to allocate this money.

"People have said this school district is inefficient. If a town [Cheshire] half the size of Adams can run on one day a week then why can't Adams run on two days a week or maybe three days a week," Demarsico-Birkland said. "When it comes to services it might be time for Adams to start operating like a small town and stop acting as if it were a city."

He felt this reorganization would, in the long run, benefit the town and help Adams grow its tax base and close its structural deficit. He said right now the school is not an asset for the community but a deterrent.

"I believe our school system is an essential part of any serious long-term plan that will work to address the structural deficit we have each year," he said. "There is nothing that attracts families to a community more than a high-performing school system."

He said this money would give the district a chance to pull out of its Level 3 status in advancing student scores.

School Committee Member Edmund St. John IV said the town budget reflects what is most valued in the community and Adams should re-evaluate how much it values education. He said 37 percent of the budget goes toward education; the regional school district receives 32 percent of this and the rest goes to McCann Technical School.

He said 41 percent of Pittsfield's budget, 46 percent of North Adams' budget, 52 percent of Cheshire's budget, 32 percent of Lee's budget, and 56 percent of Dalton's budget go toward education.

He said the state average is 48.23 percent.   

"It's time that we think different and think to change our priorities and shift what we fundamentally think is appropriate for funding education," St. John said.

Superintendent Kristen Gordon said she wanted 'to be really clear' about the what would happen in the schools if the budget failed.

Selectmen Chairman Arthur "Skip" Harrington said because of confusion over last week's vote to approve the budget without a School Committee presentation, he may call to reopen the vote at the next meeting. "It is not a closed issue."

Mazzucco said because a police cruiser was taken out of the budget, there have been discussions of using some free cash to purchase laptops for the district. Cheshire has discussed doing the same thing.

School Committee Chairwoman Darlene Rodowicz said the committee and administration are doing their jobs and advocating for the children of the district. However, the choice would ultimately be in the hands of the townspeople.

"We think the children that are served by this district deserve the same things that other communities get, and it does put the community members and all of the taxpayers in a very uncomfortable spot, but as adults we are the ones making the decision," she said. "We just want to make sure everybody is informed so they can make the best decision that will allow them to sleep at night."

Gordon said because of contractual agreements, the district cannot wait for both communities to hold their town meetings and the district will have to hand out 20 to 34 staff reduction papers. She said this may lead to staff leaving and finding new jobs instead of waiting until after the town meeting votes.

The School Committee will vote on the budget next Tuesday. The Finance Committee will then recommend or disapprove of the selectmen's vote. At this point, the budget could be reopened and changed to reflect a 2 1/2 override attempt or a reallocation of funds. The total budget can always be changed from the floor of town meeting.


Tags: #adamsbudget,   ACRSD,   fiscal 2016,   school budget,   

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Adams Sees No Races So Far

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
ADAMS, Mass. — With less than a week left before nomination papers are due, there are currently no contested seats.
 
Only selectman incumbent John Duval has returned papers. Selectman Howard Rosenberg has decided not to seek re-election. 
 
Rosenberg, who was elected in 2021, said he has chosen not to run again to make room for younger candidates.
 
"I feel strongly, we need younger people running for public office,  as the future of our town lies within the younger  generation. The world is so fundamentally different today and rapidly changing to become even more so. I believe we need people who are less interested in trying to bring back the past, then in paving the way for a promising future. The younger generation can know that they can stay here and have a voice without having to leave for opportunities elsewhere," he said.
 
The only person to return papers so far is former member the board Donald Sommer. Sommer served as a selectman from 2007 to 2010 and before that was a member of the School Committee and the Redevelopment Authority. He ran unsuccessfully for selectman in 2019 and again in 2021 but dropped out of before the election.
 
Incumbent Moderator Myra Wilk and Town Clerk Haley Meczywor have returned papers for their respective positions.
 
Assessor Paula Wheeler has returned papers and incumbents James Loughman and Eugene Michalenko have returned papers for library trustees.
 
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