WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — After three attempts to hire a business manager for the Williamstown-Lanesborough Tri-District, the school committees this week agreed to hire a consulting firm to handle the schools’ finances on an interim basis.

 

On Tuesday, the Mount Greylock Regional School Committee joined its counterparts from Superintendency Union 71 in unanimously accepting the recommendation of Interim Superintendent Kimberley Grady to sign a one-year contract with The Management Solution (TMS) out of Auburn.

 

Grady has been without a full-time business manager since February when Lynn Rauscher resigned the post just more than three months after Grady, the Tri-District’s assistant superintendent, stepped into the corner office on an interim basis.

 

At the time, school officials took solace that the groundwork for the fiscal year 2018 budgets had been laid, and, in fact, all three budgets — for Lanesborough Elementary, Williamstown Elementary and Mount Greylock — passed muster with their respective town halls and town meeting voters in Lanesborough and Williamstown.

 

Nonetheless, Grady seemed relieved on Wednesday when she updated the Williamstown Elementary School Committee about the current staffing levels at the Tri-District office.

 

“We have an interim director of pupil personnel services also starting July 5 and an HR specialist starting July 5,” Grady said. “And we have a district office manager who will continue his role.

 

"I will be fully staffed on July 5. That’s a really good feeling. Thank you all for the support you’ve supplied in the last several months. I’m looking forward to rolling out the new team and hitting the ground running over the summer months."

 

This is the second time the Tri-District has contracted with TMS.

 

Most recently, Mount Greylock and SU-71 employed the firm in 2011. In 2013, the Tri-District hired Lynn Bassett, who left in 2015 and was replaced by Rauscher.

 

TMS’ last tenure in the district was remembered as less than smooth by some members of the hiring committees, but Grady said that the firm had undergone some restructuring and came recommended by districts that recently have used their services.

 

The company’s website lists 28 clients, including Mount Greylock, the overwhelming majority in Massachusetts.

 

TMS, founded in 2006, has a mission statement that reads: “Rethinking the process for managing school district operations. This includes business management, planning, professional development, evaluation of staff, contract negotiation, procurement, program review, and use of data. TMS continues to push forward and break new ground.”

 

The Management Solution was the only firm to respond to the request for proposals the Tri-District issued after several tries to hire either a permanent or interim business manager.

 

Prior to recommending the Auburn firm, Grady sought feedback from the Massachusetts Association of School Business Officials and the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. As part of the contract, the firm promised to have someone on site three days a week during the term of the arrangement: July 1 to June 30, 2018.

 

The school committee members were satisfied that TMS is the best option for the three school districts.

 

“Since I’m raising specific concerns, I’d like to say I’m happy to bring them on board,” said Mount Greylock School Committee member Carolyn Greene, who was on the committee for the last go-around with TMS. “I think we have a good shot at working well with them. They’re much more aware of us. We’re more aware of them. And we need a business firm.

 

“I don’t think it’s a compromise. It’s a fair option.”

 

Lanesborough Elementary School Committee Chairwoman Regina DiLego, who also served the last time the Tri-District employed TMS, agreed.

 

“One of the problems was they were new and didn’t anticipate the size and scope of what they had to do,” she said.

 

The RFP made clear the expectations of the business manager, including the use of three different accounting software programs, answering to three different school committees, attending night meetings in the two towns and managing bills and compensation from the state related to the ongoing building project at Mount Greylock.

 

“I think having them for three days will be better than two days,” DiLego said. “And, in all fairness, I have to say that, in my opinion, the issue wasn’t totally with TMS. There were internal issues at the time that complicated a successful venture with them, and I don’t see them being issues again.”

 

The Tri-District’s contract with TMS is for $97,000 for one year. The full-time business manager position had been budgeted for $94,000 in the FY18 budget; all three school districts pay a share of the central administration costs proportionally based on enrollment.