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 READI Committee Transitions Away From Select Board

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Select Board on Monday voted unanimously to transition the town's diversity committee away from the role it has served since its inception in 2020.
 
On a 4-0 vote, the board voted to formally dissolve the body recently renamed the Race, Equity, Accessibility, Diversity and Inclusion Committee and allow its members to work directly with the town manager to advance the issues that the former DIRE Committee addressed over the last six years.
 
When the then-Diversity, Inclusion and Racial Equity Committee was formed in the summer of 2020, it was conceived as an advisory body to the Select Board.
 
Over the years, the relationship between the Select Board and DIRE became strained, to the point where READI Committee members last year were openly discussing whether their group should remain a town committee at all or become a grassroots organization on the model of the town's Carbon Dioxide Lowering (COOL Committee).
 
"I just don't think that previous Select Boards have been the best guides in the process of getting things accomplished in the community," said Shana Dixon, who served on DIRE before her election to the Select Board last May. "Not that this panel, right now, could be better.
 
"What I'm saying is that it has been a hindrance to work under the Select Board."
 
It was not immediately clear whether the next incarnation of the READI Committee would continue to comply with the provisions of the Open Meeting Law.
 
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