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The Berkshire County Education Task Force discusses the single school district model and potential hurdles on Saturday.

Education Task Force Continues Study on Countywide School District

By Jeff SnoonianiBerkshires Correspondent
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Project manager Jake Eberwein, center, presents his management plan to the task force.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire County Education Task Force is trying to anticipate potential problems on the pathway to a unified county school district. 
 
The task force meeting at Berkshire Regional Planning's office Saturday morning certainly didn't solve any problems but did try to outline where those challenges may arise. 
 
As with all other education initiatives the first hurdle they have is money. More specifically the lack of it.
 
"The full proposal we pitched (to the state Department of Education) was $420,000 for each of the first three years and then another $250,000 for each of the next two," said outgoing Lee Superintendent Howard "Jake" Eberwein. 
 
Eberwein will be the program manager for the BCETF as it studies the move toward a countywide school district, the ultimate goal the task force determined on in its initial research in providing high quality, equitable and sustainable education in Berkshire County. 
 
Eberwein presented task force members with a draft of a work plan to study a single-district model. He quickly clarified the financial reality of the project.
 
"The reason I'm throwing those numbers out is because we don't have that money. I want to be sure to temper expectations," he said.
 
The BCETF did receive a $50,000 grant from the Barr Foundation and a $50,000 earmark from the Legislature secured by state Sen. Adam Hinds. It's with that $100,000 it will fund work in 2020. Chairman William Cameron said they have applied for an additional $150,000 in grant money but called the realization of that money "questionable."
 
If fully funded, the task force planned to install a fully staffed administration for the project and hire outside, expert consultants with specific legal, financial, and legislative knowledge pertaining to a possible reorganization. They also would've used that money to fund the initial pilot project of a single school district.
 
Eberwein stills feels those goals are achievable but finances necessitate a more modest approach.
 
"We are trying to keep the spirit of those original investments, having those three [goals] still in play," he said.
 
Money isn't the only roadblock, however, as Lee educator and Massachusetts Teachers Association representative Ginger Armstrong pointed out. She mentioned a few specific issues from her constituents.
 
"The pushback I'm hearing is that it's a social justice issue. How are you going to get the wealthy communities to 'pay for' the poorer communities? 'I've got mine I don't care about them.' [Wealthier communities] like their small class sizes. They like their small little communities," she said. "If I'm deemed a bad teacher are you going to send me to North Adams? And I don't mean that in a good school or bad school way I mean it from a 'I would then have to drive [from Central or South County to North County]? It's the details they want to know."
 
Armstrong feels communication is the key to allaying any fears of "Big Brother" telling individual towns how to run their schools or who to hire and fire.
 
"Who is the school committee going to be? How do we get a vote on where the money goes? I think we have all the pieces but we need to have that one-minute elevator speech."
 
Southern Berkshire Regional School Committee member and Sheffield resident Dennis Sears has been dealing with the proposed merger of his district with the adjacent Berkshire Hills Regional district. He thinks once towns realize and are assured that they ultimately decide their fate, they could have a better dialogue about a one district model.
 
"We in Southern Berkshire are heavily engaged in a similar process right now. It's very obvious in our communities that what the general public is more concerned about, and they don't seem to even understand, is that they have the final voice on what happens with education in this county," he said. "Here's what they should keep in mind. The final result is you the voters will ultimately make a final decision based on the best efforts of a group of people done in public meetings. All we are doing is saying 'Here's our plan on what we think should be followed.'"
 
Public relations was a common concern at the meeting as several misconceptions held by the public were mentioned.
 
North Adams' John Hockridge, a former School Committe member and past chairman of the task force, a brought up the most common one when discussing the need for the public to see a more visual example of what a one-district county would look like.
 
"It's not one school in the middle of Berkshire County. It's probably what 50 percent of the people out there think," he said.
 
Although it sparked some humorous back and forth about what the football team would be called and where the one school would be located, public relations are a major issue concerning this or any other proposed school district consolidation.
 
"One of the points of disinformation that is going to be tough to overcome is this notion of one school. But if we do become a single district, certainly not all the schools that are currently being used are going to be used. At some point we have to look at that," said Task Force member Carl Stewart and Southern Berkshires' chairman.
 
Lee School Committee Chairwoman Andrea Wadsworth, also chairman of the local  district for the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, sees the same challenge getting a clear message to faculty and administration about potential school closures.
 
"I believe the study we did with DMG (consultants), the analysis was initially that no one would lose a job. I think that's important. People are going to be operating out of fear and I think that's a natural position," she said. "Also no school would be closed. But we never said what that time frame would be. Maybe the next comment to make might be that no school closes within the next 5-10 years. But we have to recognize that there is local control and local governments. For some people, the school is the center of their town. We have to recognize that when we are making recommendations and collecting data. Ultimately we are going to have to answer the question 'What happens to MY school?'"
 
There are myriad other obstacles to overcome before the task force makes any proposals or presentations. When asked about how the administrative structure of a single model district would work, Eberwein admitted that despite best efforts of everyone involved it might lead Berkshire County back to exactly where it is now.
 
"We need to make the education and finance argument. If we can't make those arguments why dive into the governance issue? It may be a future barrier but if there is no case to be made [education and finance-wise] there is probably no need to address those other issues," he said.
 
Wadsworth brought up a segment of the population yet to be addressed: the students. Although the specific topic she broached isn't one the Task Force is involved with, it was them having a voice in the process she wanted to stress.
 
"There was a student in North County representative of a school committee ... he would like to look into high schoolers saying they're tired because they have to come to school too early. Wouldn't he have more breadth and depth if he were coming from one district rather than a little district in North County?" she said. "Kids are bringing things to us, to school committees. They would have more say legislatively [in a single district model] to change the time school starts."
 
The task force adopted the plan proposed by Eberwein unanimously with a caveat to restructure the budget should additional grant money become available. 
 
The next meeting of the BCETF will be Saturday, Dec. 14. at 9 a.m. at the Berkshire Regional Planning office in Pittsfield. It is open to the public.

Tags: education task force,   

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Crosby/Conte Statement of Interest Gets OK From Council

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Architect Carl Franceschi and Superintendent Joseph Curtis address the City Council on Tuesday.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With the approval of all necessary bodies, the school district will submit a statement of interest for a combined build on the site of Crosby Elementary School.

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously gave Superintendent Joseph Curtis the green light for the SOI to the Massachusetts School Building Authority by April 12.

"The statement I would make is we should have learned by our mistakes in the past," Mayor Peter Marchetti said.

"Twenty years ago, we could have built a wastewater treatment plant a lot cheaper than we could a couple of years ago and we can wait 10 years and get in line to build a new school or we can start now and, hopefully, when we get into that process and be able to do it cheaper then we can do a decade from now."

The proposal rebuilds Conte Community School and Crosby on the West Street site with shared facilities, as both have outdated campuses, insufficient layouts, and need significant repair. A rough timeline shows a feasibility study in 2026 with design and construction ranging from 2027 to 2028.

Following the SOI, the next step would be a feasibility study to determine the specific needs and parameters of the project, costing about $1.5 million and partially covered by the state. There is a potential for 80 percent reimbursement through the MSBA, who will decide on the project by the end of the year.

Earlier this month, city officials took a tour of both schools — some were shocked at the conditions students are learning in.

Silvio O. Conte Community School, built in 1974, is a 69,500 square foot open-concept facility that was popular in the 1960s and 1970s but the quad classroom layout poses educational and security risks.  John C. Crosby Elementary School, built in 1962, is about 69,800 square feet and was built as a junior high school so several aspects had to be adapted for elementary use.

Ward 6 Councilor Dina Lampiasi said the walkthrough was "striking" at points, particularly at Conte, and had her thinking there was no way she would want her child educated there. She recognized that not everyone has the ability to choose where their child goes to school and "we need to do better."

"The two facilities that we are looking at I think are a great place to start," she said.

"As the Ward 6 councilor, this is where my residents and my students are going to school so selfishly yes, I want to see this project happen but looking at how we are educating Pittsfield students, this is going to give us a big bang for our buck and it's going to help improve the educational experience of a vast group of students in our city."

During the tour, Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey, saw where it could be difficult to pay attention in an open classroom with so much going on and imagined the struggle for students.

Councilor at Large Alisa Costa said, "we cannot afford not to do this" because the city needs schools that people want their children to attend.

"I know that every financial decision we make is tough but we have to figure this out. If the roof on your house were crumbling in, you'd have to figure it out and that's where we're at and we can't afford to wait any longer," she said.

"We can't afford for the sake of the children going to our schools, for the sake of our city that we want to see grow so we have to build a city where people want to go."

Councilor at Large Kathy Amuso, who served on the School Building Needs Commission for about 18 years, pointed out that the panel identified a need to address Conte in 2008.

Curtis addressed questions about the fate of Conte if the build were to happen, explaining that it could be kept as an active space for community use, house the Eagle Academy or the Adult Learning Center, or house the central offices.

School attendance zones are a point of discussion for the entire school district and for this project.

"At one time I think we had 36 school buildings and now we have essentially 12 and then it would go down again but in a thoughtful way," Curtis said.

Currently, eight attendance zones designate where a student will go to elementary school. Part of the vision is to collapse those zones into three with hopes of building a plan that incorporates partner schools in each attendance zone.

"I think that going from eight schools to three would be easier to maintain and I think it would make more sense but in order to get there we will have to build these buildings and we will have to spend money," Kavey said, hoping that the city would receive the 80 percent reimbursement it is vying for.

This plan for West Street, which is subject to change, has the potential to house grades pre-kindergarten to first grade in one school and Grades 2 to 4 in another with both having their own identities and administrations. 

The districtwide vision for middle school students is to divide all students into a grade five and six school and a grade seven and eight school to ensure equity.

"The vagueness of what that looks like is worrisome to some folks that I have talked to," Lampiasi said.

Curtis emphasized that these changes would have to be voted on by the School Committee and include public input.

"We've talked about it conceptually just to illustrate a possible grade span allocation," he said. "No decisions have been made at all by the School Committee, even the grade-span proposals."

School Committee Chair William Cameron said it is civic duty of the committee and council to move forward with the SOI.
 
He explained that when seven of the city's schools were renovated in the late 1990s, the community schools were only 25 years old and Crosby was 35 years old.  The commonwealth did not deem them to be sorely in need of renovation or replacement.
 
"Now 25 years later, Crosby is physically decrepit and an eyesore. It houses students ages three to 11 in a facility meant for use by teenagers,"
 
"Conte and Morningside opened in the mid-1970s. They were built as then state-of-the-art schools featuring large elongated rectangles of open instructional space. Over almost half a century, these physical arrangements have proven to be inadequate for teaching core academic skills effectively to students, many of whom need extra services and a distraction-free environment if they are to realize their full academic potential."
 
He said  the proposal addresses a serious problem in the "economically poorest, most ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse area" of the city.
 
Cameron added that these facilities have been deemed unsatisfactory and need to be replaced as part of the project to reimagine how the city can best meet the educational needs of its students.  He said it is the local government's job to move this project forward to ensure that children learn in an environment that is conducive to their thriving academically.
 
"The process of meeting this responsibility needs to begin here tonight," he said.
 
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