Letter: Harrington Deserves Another Term

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To the Editor:

I'm writing to express my wholehearted endorsement of Andrea Harrington — we have been friends for many years, through thick and thin. I look at the criminal justice system through the lens of our community's most marginalized neighbors. Andrea walks the walk on showing up to make change.

She understands the value of harm reduction better than any other politician I’ve worked with. She has been a champion for keeping drug use in the realm of public health where it belongs. She has focused the arm of justice on where it belongs — domestic violence and murder.

She has faced extremely biased reporting by our local paper of record. It has been very disappointing to see the repeated smears. It has made people afraid to support her publicly, even though in private they think she is doing a good job.

It is also worth noting that the courts were fully closed during a significant portion of her tenure. Now that they are open, violent crimes are being successfully prosecuted.

Andrea has earned your vote for another four years.

Stephen Murray
North Adams, Mass.

 

 


Tags: election 2022,   


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North Berkshire Secondary Ed Study to Be Rebid

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The task force looking at middle and high school regionalization is going back out to bid for a consultant after both remaining bids came in over budget.
 
The Northern Berkshire Regionalization Study Steering Committee opened the bids on Wednesday night, with Vaysen Studio of Syracuse, N.Y., bidding $213,400 and the joint bid of Academic Discoveries of Boylston and The Management Solution of Auburn at $172,000.
 
Both came in higher than the $125,000 the committee has available.
 
After some discussion, the committee, meeting at McCann Technial School, voted unanimously to retool the request for proposals and send it back out to bid.
 
"To me, it's as simple as that. The price has exceeded the available funding, and now we're going to create something that has smaller scope so that, so that it can fit," said Mount Greylock Regional Schools Superintendent Joseph Bergeron. "And then that means, hopefully, you're just deducting from the work you already got through, rather than trying to do something completely different."
 
The group is charged with overseeing a study of secondary education in North Berkshire and includes Mount Greylock, North Adams Public Schools, Hoosac Valley Regional School District and the five member districts of the North Berkshire School Union. The consultant will look at the educational and financial aspects, as well as such areas as special education, enrollment, transportation and long-term sustainability.
 
The initiative is an outgrowth of declining enrollment and rising costs. For example, Drury High and Hoosac Valley High together graduated 116 seniors last year; in 2008, Drury alone graduated 133.
 
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