DESE Office of School Monitoring to Visit MGRSD

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — During the week of May 13, 2024, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Office of Public School Monitoring (PSM) will conduct a Tiered Focused Monitoring Review of Mount Greylock Regional School District. 
 
The Office of Public School Monitoring visits each district and charter school every three years to monitor compliance with federal and state special education and civil rights regulations. Areas of review related to special education include student assessments, determination of eligibility, the Individualized Education Program (IEP) Team process, and IEP development and implementation. Areas of review related to civil rights include bullying, student discipline, physical restraint, and equal access to school programs for all students.
 
In addition to the onsite visit, parent outreach is an important part of the review process. The review chairperson from the Office of Public School Monitoring will send all parents of students with disabilities an online survey that focuses on key areas of their child's special education program. Survey results will contribute to the development of a report. During the onsite review, the Office of Public School Monitoring will interview the chairperson(s) of the district's Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC). Other onsite activities may include interviews of district staff and administrators, reviews of student records, and onsite observations.
 
Parents and other individuals may call Michelle Hennessey-Kowalchek, Public School Monitoring Chairperson, at (413) 314-6709 to request a telephone interview. If an individual requires an accommodation, such as translation, to participate in an interview, the Department will make the necessary arrangements.
 
Within approximately 60 business days after the onsite visit, the review chairperson will provide the district with a report with information about areas in which the district meets or exceeds regulatory requirements and areas in which the district requires assistance to correct or improve practices. The public will be able to access the report at http://www.doe.mass.edu/psm/tfm/reports/.
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Williamstown Community Preservation Act Applicants Make Cases to Committee

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Community Preservation Committee on Tuesday heard from six applicants seeking CPA funds from May's annual town meeting, including one grant seeker that was not included in the applications posted on the town's website prior to the meeting.
 
That website included nine applications as of Tuesday evening, with requests totaling just more than $1 million — well over the $624,000 in available Community Preservation Act funds that the committee anticipates being available for fiscal year 2027.
 
A 10th request came from the town's Agricultural Commission, whose proponents made their cases in person to the CPC on Tuesday. The other four are scheduled to give presentations to the committee at its Jan. 27 meeting.
 
Between now and March, the committee will need to decide what, if any, grant requests it will recommend to May's town meeting, where members will have the final say on allocations.
 
Ag Commissioners Sarah Gardner and Brian Cole appeared before the committee to talk about the body's request for $25,000 to create a farmland protection fund.
 
"It would be a fund the commission could use to participate in the exercise of a right of first refusal when Chapter [61] land comes out of chapter status," Gardner explained, alluding to a process that came up most recently when the Select Board assigned the town's right of first refusal to the Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation, which ultimately acquired a parcel on Oblong Road that otherwise would have been sold off for residential development.
 
"The town has a right of first refusal, but that has to be acted on in 120 days. It's not something we can fund raise for. We have to have money in the bank. And we'd have to partner with a land trust or some other interested party like Rural Lands or the Berkshire Natural Resources Council. Agricultural commissions in the state are empowered to create these funds."
 
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