DESE Office of School Monitoring to Visit MGRSD

01:48PM / Friday, April 05, 2024Print Story | Email Story

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 Preservation Panel Pulls Surcharge Hike Proposal

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:19AM / Friday, February 20, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Community Preservation Committee on Tuesday voted to backtrack on a plan to ask town meeting to increase the town's Community Preservation Act surcharge on local property tax bills.

And it heard arguments that the town should be asked whether to pull out of the CPA program altogether.

Earlier this month, the panel voted 6-2 to develop an article for the May annual town meeting warrant that would have asked whether the town should increase the current 2 percent surcharge (with the first $100,000 of property value excepted) to 3 percent, the maximum allowed under the CPA.

Committee members argued that raising the local surcharge to the maximum would unlock significantly more in matching funds from the commonwealth. Hypothetically, for example, the town would have received nearly twice the state funding for CPA projects in FY24 (the most recent year available) had it charged a 3 percent surcharge instead of the current 2 percent.

After hearing two members of the town's Finance Committee, a former Select Board member and one member of the public question whether the CPA surcharge makes sense at all for the town, five members of the CPC at Tuesday's meeting voted not to put the surcharge increase warrant article to a vote at the annual town meeting.

Nate Budington, one of four members to flip their votes from the Feb. 4 meeting, joined others in saying he was on the fence on the issue in light of the ever-increasing tax burden faced by property owners to support town and school operations.

"As to the surcharge, like other people, I went back and forth. I've had a couple of conversations with people on Spring Street about the demise of the [Williamstown Theatre Festival] and what that's meant to their business," Budington said. "And I don't think that's going to get any better. If anything, it's going in the wrong direction. And that's ominous to me.

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