Adams-Cheshire Begins Staff Cuts, Mulls Leaving NEASC

The School Committee was told that affected faculty and staff had been informed they would not be returning next school year if the proposed budget does not pass.

CHESHIRE, Mass. — The Adams-Cheshire Regional School District began preparing for staff reductions to accommodate its reduced budget.

Superintendent Kristen Gordon informed the School Committee on Monday night that the 28 individuals who may be cut have been notified.

"Today was a hard day," Gordon said. "People were very, very professional; a lot of tears today really. It is tough news to hear that you are losing your job."

The School Committee last week passed a $19.4 million budget that increased Adams and Cheshire's regional assessments by $800,000. Adams Board of Selectmen did not approve increasing the assessment budget at its last meeting, instead voting to keep the town administrator's proposed budget that would force the district to cut up to 28 positions. With Adams' levy capacity nearly breached, any movement to increase the district's budget at town meeting would trigger a Proposition 2 1/2 override.  

Gordon said 10 teachers were notified that staff would be reduced and 17 paraprofessionals. She said some of these individuals may be called back but she wanted to give them a chance to find another job.  

"You have 28 people that today received notification that they are not expected to return next year," she said. "We will certainly have people looking for new jobs and we wanted to do that in a timely manner to be fair."

Gordon said this has forced administration to be creative to fill staffing gaps. She said many teachers will be moved around and have to teach at different grade levels. Kindergarten, third grade, fourth grade, and fifth grade at C.T. Plunkett will move from four classes per grade to three; two grade levels at Cheshire Elementary School will be reduced from two classes to one.

"You are going to see a lot of changes within the district next year," Gordon said. "Certainly not added support, but I am feeling very positive about some of the ideas that we have out here."

Gordon said many teachers in the middle school will be asked to teach the same subject in multiple grade levels rather than one grade. She said this will help with staffing needs and create a better teaching environment.  

"You always have someone else teaching the subject and you always will be able to have comparison in terms of data so that is going to be a big change for our middle school," she said.

Chairwoman Darlene Rodowicz said the district has challenges ahead and is not in a good place.

"I think we all have to roll up our sleeves, not just this committee but also the town members," she said. "We all need to look hard at what our priorities are in the community, and I don't think we necessarily served our district well."

Selectman Joseph Nowak said he was glad the committee members brought forth the budget they wanted.

"When you presented your side of the story I think you were eloquent, I think you all did well, and I think people listened," Nowak said. "I think we know and I certainly know you know that something has to be done."

Gordon said the district may want to drop New England Association of Schools and Colleges in the future because the district is not getting any "bang for their buck."

She said the district does not get much use out of NEASC, a nonprofit accreditation group that utilizes volunteer teachers to survey schools and make recommendations. She said NEASC seems to be working against the Common Core curriculum with which Adams-Cheshire has aligned.

The recent NEASC report of Hoosac Valley cost nearly $18,000 and was only four pages. She said for the amount of money and the amount of hours staff put in to accommodate the report, aligning with NEASC may not be worth it.

She said many districts in the state have discussed leaving and some in eastern Massachusetts have opted out.

"We are not sure if we want to move forward with NEASC," Gordon said. "Other districts are considering it, and we certainly aren't going to be the first district to do it. We are going to wait and see."

Adams Welcomes New Officer; Appoints Housing Authority Board Member

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
05:44AM / Friday, April 19, 2024

Officer Cole Desroches recently graduated from the Police Academy. 

ADAMS, Mass. — The Selectmen welcomed the newest member of the Adams Police Department, Officer Cole Desroches, on Wednesday evening. 

 

Desroches graduated from the Police Academy on March 22 in the top tier in his class. He's currently in the field training program and assigned to Sgt. Curtis Crane. He attended Hoosac Valley High School and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. 

 

"He's going to serve and protect the town of Adams very well," said Crane, who with Sgts. Matthew Wright and Gregory Onorato stepped in to introduce the new officer while Chief R. Scott Kelley was on vacation. 

 

"We don't often get an opportunity to kind of talk about, frankly, some of the positive things that are happening in town and one of the many things that I feel are positive with are the Adams Police Department," said Town Administrator Jay Green. "We are right now at full staff. We have a full complement of officers. We have a chief who just resigned a three-year contract. ... We have four very capable sergeants (including Donna Malloy)."

 

The force consists of the chief, the four sergeants, a full-time detective and 11 patrol officers. It also has a new position in Cpl. Joshua Baker who is responsible for training and keeping staff equipped. 

 

"We're on the cutting edge of ensuring that we have proper training in a very changing environment with law enforcement," continued Green. "And we have a nice complement of officers and we have a well-respected detective who handles some very complicated cases."

 

He called out the half-dozen officers who attended the meeting for the work they're doing as well as the K9 unit.