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Superintendent Jason McCandless is happy with the governor's budget proposal for fiscal 2020.

Governor's Proposed Budget Is Good News For Pittsfield Schools

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The governor's proposed budget for fiscal 2020 brings good news to the Pittsfield Public Schools.
 
Gov. Charlie Baker released his proposed budget on Wednesday along with the "cherry sheets" that list the local and school aid for municipalities. As proposed, the city would see a $3.7 million increase in Chapter 70 aid for schools. That would make two consecutive years in which the district saw a significant boost in funding. 
 
"This is a substantive increase in Chapter 70 money for the city of Pittsfield,"  Superintendent Jason McCandless said.
 
The superintendent is still waiting on the details as to how the number was settled on but Deputy Superintendent Kristen Behnke said it appears the proposed budget has significant increases in funding for the economically disadvantaged students, English Language Learners, and special education reimbursements. 
 
The city has a particularly large number of students in the economically disadvantaged category and that been bolstered in the state budget significantly, and along increasing the funding for Pittsfield more than a half-million dollars.
 
Just a few years ago the school was in the routine of seeing overhead costs rising faster than revenue to fund the schools. That led to cutbacks year after year and eventually, the city hit a wall and close to 70 staff members were laid off in the school system. 
 
But the tide changed a bit last year. Last year the district saw a $1.1 million increase in state aid and used most of that to establish a therapeutic program and bring back a preschool program that had previously been cut.
 
"We were waiting to see if this was a one-time blip on the radar or something that could potentially be part of a pattern," McCandless said.
 
The reasons behind the large increase appear to be in line with the Foundation Budget Review Commission's recommendation. That group had made lengthy recommendations to completely revamp the formula for how school aid is calculated. The state Legislature had worked on a bill to implement many of those recommendations last term but was unable to pass a final bill.
 
However, the Legislature has made it a priority to work on a revamping the Chapter 70 formula and the governor has apparently begun working that way on his own. 
 
"It certainly feels like there is some effort being made to get closer to the foundation review," McCandless said.
 
And typically, the governor's budget funds Chapter 70 at a lower level than what the Legislature ultimately approves in the budget.
 
"Traditionally the governor's budget is the starting point that the Legislature attempts to build upon," McCandless said.
 
McCandless said he expects the local lawmakers to support the increased funding. The numbers and process are far from over. The state House of Representatives gets the first crack at crafting a budget. The state Senate does its own work. And finally, the two bodies develop a final budget for adoption. Those final numbers aren't often known until even after the city adopts a spending plan.
 
Internally, the crafting of a budget will ramp up significantly in February with the meeting with the principals. McCandless said right now some of the priorities will be on supporting at-risk populations, special education, the effort to roll out a new code of conduct, to implement three new vocation programs at the new Taconic High School, and to support the district improvement plan. But exactly how that takes shape is yet to be determined.
 
"The early indication is this looks like good news. It is certainly better than seeing a reduction or an increase that is as good as a standstill," McCandless said.

Tags: chapter 70,   cherry sheets,   fiscal 2020,   

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EPA Lays Out Draft Plan for PCB Remediation in Pittsfield

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Ward 4 Councilor James Conant requested the meeting be held at Herberg Middle School as his ward will be most affected. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — U.S. The Environmental Protection Agency and General Electric have a preliminary plan to remediate polychlorinated biphenyls from the city's Rest of River stretch by 2032.

"We're going to implement the remedy, move on, and in five years we can be done with the majority of the issues in Pittsfield," Project Manager Dean Tagliaferro said during a hearing on Wednesday.

"The goal is to restore the (Housatonic) river, make the river an asset. Right now, it's a liability."

The PCB-polluted "Rest of River" stretches nearly 125 miles from the confluence of the East and West Branches of the river in Pittsfield to the end of Reach 16 just before Long Island Sound in Connecticut.  The city's five-mile reach, 5A, goes from the confluence to the wastewater treatment plant and includes river channels, banks, backwaters, and 325 acres of floodplains.

The event was held at Herberg Middle School, as Ward 4 Councilor James Conant wanted to ensure that the residents who will be most affected by the cleanup didn't have to travel far.

Conant emphasized that "nothing is set in actual stone" and it will not be solidified for many months.

In February 2020, the Rest of River settlement agreement that outlines the continued cleanup was signed by the U.S. EPA, GE, the state, the city of Pittsfield, the towns of Lenox, Lee, Stockbridge, Great Barrington, and Sheffield, and other interested parties.

Remediation has been in progress since the 1970s, including 27 cleanups. The remedy settled in 2020 includes the removal of one million cubic yards of contaminated sediment and floodplain soils, an 89 percent reduction of downstream transport of PCBs, an upland disposal facility located near Woods Pond (which has been contested by Southern Berkshire residents) as well as offsite disposal, and the removal of two dams.

The estimated cost is about $576 million and will take about 13 years to complete once construction begins.

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