Adams-Cheshire Will Look to Community for Future Goals
.JPG) Town Administrator Tony Mazzucco, center, meets with an Adams-Cheshire subcommittee on Monday night seeking information on districtwide vote. |
CHESHIRE, Mass. — Adams-Cheshire Regional Superintendent Kristen Gordon said she would like to hold community focus meetings in regards to the future of the district after the budget is settled.
Gordon met with the Audit and Evaluation Subcommittee on Monday night and advocated for holding meetings focusing on gathering what both towns want the district to look like in the coming years
"Before it was about restructuring, now it is about what the district will look like in the future because, as you know, this has been a very difficult several months," Gordon said. "We fought the good fight and we continue to fight the good fight, but what do we want to do as two communities to get there. "
She said she wants to get the community involved and discuss whether the district should close a school, restructure, or look into merging with another school district.
She said the possibility of closing an elementary school is not currently an option.
"We are in this tricky position where some people may want to see that happen, but at the moment we can't do that," Gordon said. "Our enrollment hasn't dropped that much to go to one elementary school."
Committee member Darlene Rodowicz said these meetings will help people weigh the different options.
"There are a lot of parents who see the need to do something different but are also pretty anxious about it so we need to have the dialogue to help them understand the data, the numbers, and what the values is of a school in a community are," Rodowicz said.
She added that even though the state may change elements of the education system and the funding formulas for districts, Adams-Cheshire needs to be vigilant and advocate for formulas that help instead of cause more damage.
"Cleary there is this recognition that the formula is out of sync with the realities we have as well so there has to be a balance," she said. "We have to remember we can look at regionalization all we want but if we don’t fix the formula we haven't fixed the problem."
She said an example would be to advocate for changing the reimbursement for transportation in districts that cover a large area, like Adams-Cheshire.
Gordon also urged that people focus on all the good things the district is doing. She said school system has a high rate of students who graduate and go on to college. She said students in the district are happy and every year improvements are made.
Rodowicz agreed but added that if the override does not go through, this success rate will lower and at-risk students may fall through the cracks.
"Without this override, we start to lose the support services for those kids that are in the gray area who aren't ready to learn because they haven't had the reinforcement for whatever reason," she said. "I don’t want to see us enforcing any economic divide in our district and that's what I am afraid is going to happen."
Voters will be deciding on Wednesday whether to approve a Proposition 2 1/2 override of $90,000 to fund the district's $19 million budget. Town meeting had approved the school budget but the following ballot vote on the override was defeated, leaving the school district facing $360,000 in cuts because of the proportional agreement with Adams.
Adams Town Administrator Tony Mazzucco attended the meeting and asked Gordon to contact the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education about some of the mechanics of a districtwide vote, which may be needed if the override does not pass in Cheshire.
He said even though all voters from both towns may not show up to the open election, they need to prepare for it.
"If it is open to all registered voters in the district, we are probably going to have to use the football field at Hoosac because I don't know where else we can fit everyone," Mazzucco said. "You have to be looking at potential of thousands of people showing up."
Gordon said the Hoosac Valley High School gym cannot fit more than 1,000 people so the field could be used for overflow if it came to it.
Committee member Edmund St. John IV said the meeting could take place in several rooms in the school and satellite town meetings with sub-moderators could be used.
He said they also have to determine who will moderate the meeting.
Tags: ACRSD, school budget,
