CLARKSBURG, Mass. — Clarksburg School is applying a for a half-million Safe Routes to School grant to improve safe access to the Community Center.
"Essentially what we're proposing is a safe route from the school to the town field and a crosswalk to the senior center," said Assistant Superintendent Tara Barnes. "That's the evacuation plan ... not that we would ever want an evacuation to happen but if it were to happen, we want the safest possible route for the students to get out."
The Community Center is the town's designated emergency center and is located within walking distance of the school.
However, there are a number of safety considerations in moving children to the center.
The students can now reach the town field through a rough path in the woods and walk the field until crossing the road or walk along the sidewalk-free Cross Road, a heavily traveled way with no shoulders.
Superintendent John Franzoni said Barnes had provided pictures that show "how narrow and dangerous" the road is.
"It's a really a well-traveled road that vehicles sometimes go too fast on and and people are walking on that road," he said.
The school is a town hub and the goal is to make it more pedestrian and bicycle friendly, Barnes said. "The project is intended just to create more accessibility between resources for everyone."
The Select Board has signed off on the application and Barnes said she included some of the work being done by Municipal Vulnerability Committee in its planning for the town field.
She said the school's contact with Safe Routes has been helping with shepherding the application through and, should it be rejected, they should get some feedback on preparing for the next grant round.
Franzoni also alerted the School Committee to a potential issue regarding school choice students and tuition. A reading by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is that schools are responsible for the K-12 education of children who school choice in.
This does not create a problem for small schools in regional districts or school systems that already educate Grades K-12. But for independent schools like Clarksburg that only educate up to Grade 6 or 8, it could cause financial issues.
For example, Franzoni said, if an Adams student attended through school choice and wanted to attend Drury, Clarksburg could be on the hook for their tuition. This might be a rare instance, since the majority of the children who school choice into Clarksburg are North Adams residents.
The superintendent said it was something he wanted to bring up with the School Committee and that it will be discussed further at the next meeting.
In other business:
• Principal Sandy Cote said the school has received its Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System rating results. The administration is reviewing the data but, overall, she said, "we are making moderate progress ... we're pleased with that."
• She also noted that the school's float in the Fall Foliage Parade received the Mayor's Award and that the annual Haunted Hayride at Clarksburg State Forest is next weekend. "We're keeping an eye on the weather."
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North Adams Hopes to Transform Y Into Community Recreation Center
By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
Mayor Jennifer Macksey updates members of the former YMCA on the status of the roof project and plans for reopening.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The city has plans to keep the former YMCA as a community center.
"The city of North Adams is very committed to having a recreation center not only for our youth but our young at heart," Mayor Jennifer Macksey said to the applause of some 50 or more YMCA members on Wednesday. "So we are really working hard and making sure we can have all those touch points."
The mayor said the city will run some programming over the summer until an operator can be found to take over the facility. It will also need a new name.
"The YMCA, as you know, has departed from our facilities and will not return to our facility in the form that we had," she said to the crowd in Council Chambers. "And that's been mostly a decision on their part. The city of North Adams wanted to really keep our relationship with the Y, certainly, but they wanted to be a Y without borders, and we're going a different direction."
The pool was closed in March 2023 after the roof failed a structural inspection. Kyle Lamb, owner of Geary Builders, the contractor on the roof project, said the condition of the laminated beams was far worse than expected.
"When we first went into the Y to do an inspection, we certainly found a lot more than we anticipated. The beams were actually rotted themselves on the bottom where they have to sit on the walls structurally," he said. "The beams actually, from the weight of snow and other things, actually crushed themselves eight to 11 inches. They were actually falling apart. ...
The fate of the facility attached to Brayton School has been in limbo since the closure of the pool last year because of structural issues and the departure of the Berkshire Family YMCA in March.
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The School Committee will be presented next week with a $20 million spending plan for fiscal 2025 that includes closing Greylock School and a reduction of 26 full-time positions.
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