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The Adams-Cheshire Regional School Committee has agreed to have its legal counsel review town meeting article that would allow Cheshire to provide extra funding for Cheshire School.

Adams-Cheshire Weighs Emergency Amendment for Cheshire School

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
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CHESHIRE, Mass. — The Adams-Cheshire Regional School Committee will seek legal counsel to see how and if Cheshire can amend the district agreement to allow the town to fund Cheshire Elementary School on its own for one year.
 
Cheshire Selectwoman Carol Francesconi on Monday asked the committee if it was possible for the town to increase its assessment and bypass the district agreement that would mandate a proportional increase to Adams.
 
"I am here with probably more questions than you are going to be able to give me answers tonight but we have been presented with a petition with over 200 signatures to put an amendment on the district agreement," she said. 
 
Francesconi said she hopes that by keeping the school open one more year, the town will have time to figure out what to do with the school and the regional district in the future
 
"The general consensus I have heard is that just to give the towns' time to really believe that something is going to change in the district. We can't go on like this and something needs to be done," she said. "We just wanted more time to decide what to do in the future."  
 
School officials had decided that closing one of the elementary schools was the only fiscally sensible option for the struggling district. In early March, they voted to close Cheshire in favor of keeping C.T. Plunkett School in Adams open. The vote touched off a firestorm in smaller and outvoted Cheshire. 
 
Last week, Cheshire resident Jeremy McLain, who is spearheading an effort to keep Cheshire School open, asked the Selectmen to place the emergency amendment change on the town meeting warrant. Although on board, the Selectmen wanted to ask the School Committee if it was even possible.
 
Francesconi wanted to know exactly how much the town would have to come up with, if grades would still be co-located if all three schools were open and if the School Committee would rescind its vote to close Cheshire Elementary.
 
Committee Chairman Paul Butler, too, had more questions than answers and agreed to contact legal counsel and see if it is possible
 
"A lot of these questions I honestly don't have an answer to ... it may not be as simple as going back to square one," he said. "So there are a lot of unanswered questions." 
 
He added that there are time constraints working against the district and that the process could drag out until mid-summer with the need for a debt exclusion or Proposition 2 1/2 vote. The district has already approved a budget that includes closing Cheshire.
 
Francesconi said Cheshire's town meeting is June 12 and the town would need to account for any budgetary changes.
 
She added that if the town can make an emergency amendment, it would also have to place a debt exclusion article on the warrant to raise at least $300,000 to fund the operation of the building for a single year.
 
"The debt exclusion would be most logical to me because it would be over in a year and this is supposed to be a one-year deal until different future plans occur," she said. "An override vote would be a forever vote and that would make no sense to me."
 
Superintendent Robert Putnam said any changes in the district's organization could cause hiccups in the plan to consolidate. He still plans to go forward with the March decision to close Cheshire, move pre-K through third grade to Plunkett and move all other grades to Hoosac Valley High School until told otherwise.
 
"It is a major operation to consolidate schools ... this all requires a great deal of planning and I have to plan according to the March 9 decision," he said. "There are essentially 39 days until the end of school and everything has to be put in place."
 
He said letters will soon go out explaining to families their educational options and he has scheduled tours for students who will be changing buildings according to the adopted budget.
 
School Committee member Stephan Vigna said he would be amenable to the amendment that would buy Cheshire some time as long as it did not force the committee and district into an unsustainable model. He said he wants to continue to work with both towns and move education forward.
 
"As far as keeping the school open, I understand that just what are the intentions to buy us a year? I would like to work together with the two towns and come up with a more sustainable plan ... and if this buys more time and it passes and there are no implications for us as a School Committee and a district that confines us in one way or the other to make that amendment to the agreement, I am all for it."  
 
Although not directly connected to the emergency amendment, the School Committee did vote to begin a district agreement review. 
 
"Our last amendment was in 1992 so we have been kicking this can down the road for years," School Committee member Edmund St. John IV said.
 
In other business, Putnam said the district completed its yearly audit and was given a "clean bill of health" and that Plunkett was awarded a $500 Healthy Start Award for the breakfast in the classroom program. 
 
Putnam called back a Collins Center recommendation to change the name of the schools to unify the two communities. 
 
"They thought we could come up with something more emblematic of the entire district and I thought we had the opportunity in moving forward," he said.  
 
He first suggested calling the three schools Hoosac Valley High School, Hoosac Valley Middle School, and Hoosac Valley Elementary School.
 
Vigna suggested letting the students decide and hold a contest.
 
Before closing, Butler thanked St. John for his service on the committee
 
"I just want to say congratulations and thank you so much for all of the years of dedication and hard work that you have put into this committee," he said. 
 
"Anyone who sits here knows this is not an easy task." 
 
Monday was St. John's last meeting; he is running for Board of Selectmen in Cheshire.

Tags: ACRSD_budget,   cheshire school,   town meeting 2017,   

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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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