BHS Announces Two New Trustees

09:01AM / Monday, October 17, 2022Print Story | Email Story

David Moresi and Ana Suffish were elected to the BHS Board of Trustees.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Health Systems (BHS) announced the election of David Moresi and Ana Suffish to the BHS Board of Trustees.

Moresi and Suffish were both recently elected to three-year terms.

"We are excited to welcome Ana and David to the BHS Board of Trustees," said BHS President and CEO Darlene Rodowicz. "Both are recognized leaders in our community, and BHS will be lucky to benefit from their perspectives as we continue working to advance health and wellness for everyone in the region."

David Moresi, a native of North Adams, studied at Union College in Schenectady, NY, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1997. He soon returned to the Berkshires where he embarked on an entrepreneurial career. In 2000, Moresi established the firm of Moresi & Associates, a diverse real estate management, investment, and development company in North Adams. He has made a strong commitment to bringing jobs and businesses to North Adams and has had great success with achieving that with the redevelopment of the NORAD Mill. Moresi has developed numerous small businesses for more than a decade, including the NORAD Toy & Candy Company, NORAD Café, as well as being a partner in Moresi Real Estate Partners and co-owner of Grazie Italian Ristorante. He serves as Chair of the Williamstown Fire District Prudential Committee, Treasurer of the Board of Northern Berkshire EMS, and is a member of the MassHire Berkshire Workforce Board. He resides in Williamstown with his wife, Amy, and two daughters, Tess and Alli.

Ana Suffish has been the director of the Berkshire Community College Adult English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Program since January 2018. In this role, she serves over 115 students each year, overseeing a variety of free classes for adults who are not native English speakers. Prior to her position at BCC, she worked in the Pittsfield Public School system as an ESOL tutor for seven years. A native of the Berkshires and the daughter of two Guatemalan immigrants, Suffish is a graduate of Pittsfield High School and the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. She started her professional career in the human resources field in Boston but returned to the area with her husband and growing family in 2001. Suffish serves on the Board of Berkshire County Kids Place and Violence Prevention Center and enjoys hiking and alpine skiing.

Tags: BHS, BMC,

Pittsfield School Committee OKs $82M Budget, $1.5M Cuts

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
12:44PM / Sunday, April 28, 2024

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The school budget is less grim than the original proposal but still requires more than $1.5 million in cuts.

On Thursday, the School Committee approved an $82.8 million spending plan for fiscal year 2025, including a city appropriation of $80.4 million and $2.4 million in Chapter 70 funds.

The cuts made to balance the budget include about 50 staff reductions — some due to the sunsetting of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds.

"The final version does not answer all needs. It will be unacceptable to some or to many but I must say that tonight's final proposal is very different than where we started when we believed we would have a $3,600,000 reduction. I want to assure everyone that every effort has been made to minimize the impact on both students, families, and staff members while also ensuring that our district has the necessary resources to progress forward," Superintendent Joseph Curtis said.

"Nevertheless, there are incredibly passionate, dedicated staff members who will not be with us next year. This pains me as I've been a part of this organization for now 30 years so I want to assure everyone that our team, this has weighed very heavily in our hearts, this entire process. This is not a group of people that is looking at a spreadsheet saying ‘Well that can go and this can go’ and take that lightly."

Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Kristen Behnke and other officials worked with the state Department of Secondary and Elementary Education to rectify an error in the Chapter 70 funding formula, recognized 11 more low-income students in the district, and added an additional $2.4 million to the FY25 budget.

Curtis commented that when he first saw the governor’s FY25 budget, he was "rather stunned."

"The extraordinary circumstances we face this budget season by the conclusion of the substantial ESSER federal grant and a significant reduction in Chapter 70 allotment caused challenges for this team and our school principals and our educators and our staff that have been nothing short of all-consuming," he said.

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