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The Adams Selectmen have been pushing to keep C.T. Plunkett School open; at least one official thinks the town could leave the regional school district.

Adams Selectman Wants to Look Into Splitting Adams-Cheshire District

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
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ADAMS, Mass. — Selectman John Duval is advocating for splitting the troubled regional district so both Adams and Cheshire can keep their elementary schools open.

"I can't envision the town of Adams the third largest community in Berkshire County not having public elementary school in its borders," Duval said. "The town of Florida, the town of Savoy, and Clarksburg all have elementary schools in their community and they seem to be able to afford it. ...

"For Adams to not have an elementary school is not an option in my opinion."  

His opinion, expressed at Wednesday's meeting of the Selectmen came one day after Cheshire officials, too, raised the idea of going their own way to keep Cheshire School open.

The Adams-Cheshire Regional School District is considering closing one of the two elementary schools as away to save costs and consolidate a declining enrollment. The regional School Committee is expected to make a decision in early March when it votes on a fiscal 2018 budget.

The town of Adams has lobbied to keep C.T. Plunkett Elementary open. Its closure would leave the town with a second empty school building — the middle school closed in 2009 — and deal a blow, town officials believe, to the vitality of this former milltown.

Duval said he thought both communities need their elementary schools to stay open and that both should look into the process of dissolving the nearly 50-year-old regional agreement.

It would "unfathomable" to him to bus 450-plus Adams students to another community.  

Duval felt the same way about Cheshire and knew that if it lost its school, it would be devastating for the community.

The former School Committee member envisioned a structure similar to the Mount Greylock Regional School Distirct and School Union 71, in which Lanesborough and Williamstown separately operate their schools but share administration with the regional high school district they share.

Duval said he wants to look further into this option and see what it would entail.

Superintendent of Schools Robert Putnam, who attended the meeting, said the process is complicated and only a few communities have dissolved a district agreement. He said it would come down to town votes to decide to break the agreement and it would be a nearly two-year process to dissolve it through the state Legislature.


He said it becomes complicated after this because all district retirement systems are tied into the agreement and both communities must figure out how they would divvy up costs at Hoosac Valley High School.

Putnam said he would contact the Massachusetts Association of Regional School Districts representative to meet with both communities and go over the pros and cons of dissolving the district as well as the process.

The Collins Center did report that it would cost Cheshire an estimated $800,000 more just to maintain services and Adams would see an allocation decrease of nearly $200,000 to meet the state spending minimum.

Selectman Joseph Nowak said he thought a school needs to close and felt Plunkett could best meet the educational needs of the students.

"I personally believe that one school should be closed ... and I see pluses in minuses in both schools, but I see Plunkett as the most viable of the two to allow the number of students and the needs of the students," Nowak said. "I am certainly open ... and I will leave it in the hands of the School Committee."  

Putnam reiterated that whatever is decided does not have to be permanent.

"What we do this year does not have to be the end ... the choices that we face are about making sure we can keep the schools going for next year," Putnam said. "I think that decision is forcing our hand to close a school because carrying on as we are now is not an option but the future is not defined by what school is closed down."

He said communities could solicit the Massachusetts School Building Authority to renovate Plunkett, Cheshire or build new.

Putnam said all options have pros and cons and a new school on the Hoosac Valley campus would bring in more state revenue because more students would need transportation.

He said the Collins Center recommended forming a committee to look into planning out the future of the district and examine the many possibilities. He said at the minimum any kind of MSBA project would be five years out.

"I think the towns need to come together and discuss how to provide the best education for our children," he said. "It would be five years at the earliest ... and by that time we would have a better sense of where the student population is going."

The School Committee will decide what school to close March 2. There will be a public forum Feb. 27.


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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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