Adams Officials Fight to Keep Plunkett School Open
ADAMS, Mass. — Adams officials spoke out forcefully on Thursday against the idea of closing C.T. Plunkett School, saying the struggling community simply could not take the hit.
Selectmen Chairman Jeffrey Snoonian said closing Plunkett would be a bigger shock to Adams than the loss of a school would be to Cheshire.
"Closing this school has many ripple effects and I know Cheshire is a wonderful campus and it is a wonderful town to live in but taking the jobs out of Cheshire does not nearly have the impact it will if the jobs are taken out of Adams," he said. "It will be a big big blow."
George Haddad, local businessman and former selectman, said it would "hasten the fall of the community."
The Adams-Cheshire Regional School District is weighing the necessity of closing one of its two elementary schools — Plunkett or Cheshire Elementary — in the face of declining enrollment and rising costs.
But town officials and a sparse crowd of residents said Thursday at a meeting in the Plunkett auditorium that closing the school would cost more and hinder the town's ability to fund education.
Town Administrator Tony Mazzucco urged the School Committee to think long term, saying it was not financially feasible to keep Cheshire Elementary open and education needs cannot be met if money is being poured into maintenance projects.
"We can talk about the education needs, but at the end of the day, to a certain extent air irrelevant because we are only having these discussions because we don’t have the economy or finances to manage our school district the way we all want to," he said.
Mazzucco said if the district wants to ultimately shrink to a one-campus district to accommodate the decreasing population it makes no sense to close Plunkett. He said the district needs a building that will last another decade with minimal capital projects or repairs.
Plunkett was fully renovated and expanded in 1994. Although it, too, has maintenance needs such as the roof, the boiler-room roof and the back staircase, he said the projects are not as large as those needed at Cheshire, which last saw a renovation in the 1960s.
"The building is in better shape than most of my municipal buildings," he said. "Is it going to last 50 years without a renovation? Probably not. Can it last 10 years with a minimum amount of investment absolutely? CES has been a good school for many years and it is a good school today but good schools and good buildings are two different things."
Mazzucco also noted that Plunkett is on town sewer, which costs the district no money. He said the Cheshire system already has problems and he anticipates they will grow with more students in the facility. If the Cheshire system breaks down, it will only be money taken away from education.
He also shot down a proposal to remodel the Cheshire because it would be unfair to Adams. Adams taxpayers alone funded the town share of the Plunkett renovation, which was just taken off the books in 2013.
"Why would we be considering a remodel when we have a building that does not need one?" Mazzucco said. "How in god's name can we ask the Adams taxpayers to spend 20 years paying for a school renovation and then say do the same thing now for Cheshire? Should I call Dick Alcombright up and renovate Drury, too?"
He also questioned what he described as fuzzy numbers on transportation reimbursement if Plunkett closed, saying the state may look askance at closing a school to access transportation revenue.
Mazzucco said he understands why Cheshire is fighting to keep its school open and expects it to. Adams already knows the feeling, he said, because it closed a community school less than 10 years ago — the Memorial Middle School, that used to be the high school.
"The sports programs that we are proud of at Hoosac — they all started at Adams Memorial so this town took a loss in its character and in its history," he said. "I understand Cheshire's concerns but is it our solution to close Plunkett and have no public schools in the town of Adams?"
He said shutting down Plunkett would defeat the purpose of a regional district to share the costs of education and do what is best for the entire district.
Snoonian said the loss of a school within the town borders will make it even harder to attract new businesses and young families. Also, closing Plunkett removes nearly 100 employees from downtown that many businesses depend on.
He said if Plunkett closes, that means the town will have to insure and secure a vacant school, which means it will have less money to put toward education.
"If this school was forced to close any penny we would have to spend I would take out of the school budget," Snoonian said. "We have to; we cannot go back to the taxpayers and say we will fully fund the school system and short-term capital projects in Cheshire School."
Selectman Joseph Nowak said he'd spoken with a parent who did not feel comfortable sending their child into the basement of Cheshire School for class. He added that the Cheshire gym reminded him of a fallout shelter and is not handicapped accessible, which means some students would have a different physical education experience.
He asked the School Committee to make the best choice for the students.
"Please when you make your decision think of the children and not the savings," Nowak said. "I think this school is head over heels better than Cheshire to service the needs of our children into the near future and what's beyond, that is another story for another time."
The School Committee will hold another forum at Cheshire Elementary School on Monday, Feb. 27, at 6:30.
Tags: ACRSD, Plunkett, school closures,
