Letter: Bilal for Williamstown Select Board

To the Editor:

I am writing to urge Williamstown voters to elect Bilal Ansari to the Williamstown Select Board on Tuesday, May 10. Dr. Ansari has dedicated himself to a life of service, to helping people resolve difficult situations. He listens intently and responds carefully with compassion. He appeals to our best nature. These are essential skills needed at this moment in our town.

Dr. Ansari does not believe that he alone has the solutions to all of the challenges facing our town. Instead, he wants to hear from those comfortable speaking up and also those who, until now, have not felt comfortable nor heard at all. He believes it will take a village to share concerns and work together to make Williamstown a better place for everyone to live and work and grow. But making that happen takes a special type of skilled leadership.

Bilal Ansari is the candidate blessed with that skilled leadership and a stake in our town's quality of life. He has deep roots in this town: his ancestors lived and worked here. He is committed to an approach based in kindness and inclusion. He is the candidate who can and will help us reach a new, inclusive and more equitable chapter in our town's history.

I ask for your vote on May 10 for Bilal Ansari for the Williamstown Select Board. Thank you.

Hugh L Guilderson, Ph.D.
Williamstown, Mass.

Williamstown Backs Parents on School Amendment, Passes All But One Article

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
11:17PM / Tuesday, May 19, 2026

School Committee Chair Julia Bowen speaks in favor of the school budget, saying difficult decisions had to be made.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Annual town meeting voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to increase the $30.9 million operating budget of the Mount Greylock Regional School District by $120,000 to fund a math interventionist at the elementary school.

 

The fiscal 2027 assessment of $16,963,270 to the Mount Greylock Regional School District then passed easily by voice vote.

 

All town meeting questions on the 32-article warrant passed easily with the exception of a request by the Select Board to initiate special legislation to allow the town administration to determine the type of media for legal notices. 

 

The addition of the math interventionist generated the most discussion, focusing on the educational and financial effects of the position.

 

A group of WES parents concerned about mathematics instruction at the school had been advocating for the additional funds, about 0.7 percent of the proposed assessment.

 

Jenna Hasenkampf, a member of the School Council that unanimously recommended the post, made the amendment, which was quickly seconded.

 

"Our MCAS state math scores at WES have declined every year since 2019," said Hasenkampf. "Our iReady assessments, which is our current math curriculum from this school year, show that 40 percent of our students are currently below grade level by at least one grade level, if not more, in math, as of December 2025."