Adams Selectmen Disappointed by Cheshire 'Saber Rattling'
ADAMS, Mass. — Emotions may be getting the better of residents as the Adams-Cheshire Regional School District weighs the closing of an elementary school.
But it's no reason to be rude, say Selectmen Jeffrey Snoonian and Joseph Nowak, who blasted the behavior of Cheshire residents at a public forum earlier this week.
"This is an emotional time and I can't say this was truly unexpected from the residents of Cheshire. I have heard similar things in Adams but not in public when Adams people were just trying to make a point," Snoonian said at Wednesday's Selectmen meeting.
"I am ashamed at what happened at that meeting, I was ashamed it was allowed to go on and there is no room for the town of Cheshire to take the high road here."
Two public forums were held to gather input for the probable closing of either C.T. Plunkett School or Cheshire Elementary School. Adams officials made their case for Plunkett at a sparsely attended meeting at that school last week and Cheshire residents and officials did the same at Cheshire Elementary at a well-attended meeting Monday when both Adams and Cheshire residents butted heads.
Nowak said whenever an Adams resident tried to speak at Monday's meeting he or she was shut down by boos and snickering.
"It was a large crowd and the people there were stating their opinion," Nowak said. "Not all of the people from Cheshire were making accusations and yelling across to each other but there were surely enough to show that there is no class whatsoever."
Snoonian said he was disappointed the School Committee did not try to reel in the crowd.
"I want to express my disappointment in the people running the meeting ... to allow that behavior to go on all night," Snoonian said. "If I saw that behavior, if we had guests from another town in this room, it would have lasted for one second. I don't want to speak for the School Committee but if it were me who let that go on I would apologize as soon as possible."
Snoonian noted that many folks from Cheshire felt his own statements from the Plunkett meeting were threatening and focused on money instead of education.
He said, conversely, on the Cheshire side, he did not hear one convincing argument from Cheshire that that building would better suit the educational needs of the student body.
"All I heard Monday night was threats and saber rattling and how they can save more money if Plunkett were to close. I did not hear a valid argument on how going to school in Cheshire would somehow increase test scores," he said. "To say they covered a lot of this complicated ground on why the education between the walls of Cheshire would be better than Plunkett is just false."
Nowak concurred.
"I just felt that when some of the people expressed what school is better a lot centered around their playgrounds and parking lot," Nowak said. "I have never seen a class held on a bus or in a parking lot or on a playground."
He added that Plunkett has more room for students to learn and has modern utilities and capacity for more advanced technology.
Nowak said he also was disheartened by statements made by Cheshire Selectman Robert Ciskowski who, after Adams Town Administrator Tony Mazzucco said Adams is financially tapped out, said Adams should be more frugal.
"I like him and I think he's a nice guy but he got up there like a stand-up comedian downing the town of Adams," Nowak said. "Saying that we overspend our budget ... and it had nothing to do with the education of our children and to me, that is the most important."
Snoonian also responded to statements made that Cheshire subsidizes Adams students. Adams students bring in more state income because many are low income and the recent study stated that if Cheshire were to maintain its school on its own, it would cost $600,000 more just to keep current services.
"That says to me that Adams with state money is subsidizing Cheshire School," he said. "Frankly I am happy to do it we are a regional school district, it comes with the territory."
Snoonian felt Cheshire Principal Peter Bachli made threatening statements at Monday night's meeting.
"If I were a parent in Adams I am not sure that my child would get a fair share going to school in Cheshire after hearing his ... tirade," he said. "It's his right to have his opinions but I feel he crossed a line."
Bachli said Monday night that he felt some of Snoonian's statements were threatening about pulling funds away from education if Plunkett were to close.
Snoonian reiterated that if Plunkett were to close, the town will have to pay to secure the building. With a tight upcoming budget, this will hinder the town's ability to fund education.
Selectman John Duval and Mazzucco agreed with Snoonian, who ended his statement by saying he will not stand for segregation within the schools if Plunkett were to close.
"Eventually we are going to have to work together whether it is in Plunkett, in a new school or at Cheshire," he said. "May God help anybody if these kids get together and I see any sort of segregation going on between the towns within the classroom may God help you."
In other business, the Selectmen approved $67,500 in reserve fund transfers for the Department of Public Works, the wastewater treatment plant and other items.
Mazzucco asked to transfer $17,500 from reserves to replenish the snow and ice removal budget. He did not anticipate another snowstorm but felt this amount will carry the town through the season just in case.
He also asked for another transfer of $15,000 for the DPW overtime budget line item. This line is running low with more snowfall this winter.
A transfer of $20,000 will go for a Department of Environmental Protection a mandated inflow-and-infiltration study of the wastewater treatment plant. Mazzucco said such a study normally it costs more than $100,000 but the town was able to cut this price in half after unearthing earlier studies.
"We were able to reduce it down quite a bit ... some of the work that we needed to provide the town has already done in the last 30 years," he said. "The DPW were able to find it ... that's why we never throw anything away we have a 20- to 30-year-old report that all of the sudden saved us over $50,000."
The Selectmen also approved a transfer of $15,000 for legal costs.
Tags: ACRSD, public forum, school closures,
