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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Mount Greylock School Committee Takes Another Look at FY27 Budget

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock School Committee on Tuesday decided to bring a fiscal year 2027 budget to Thursday's public hearing that maintains level services while seeking double-digit percentage increases in the assessments to each of the district's member towns.
 
The committee knew those increases were coming from a draft budget it saw at its March 3 meeting, but the numbers changed over the last couple of weeks — driving up the anticipated assessment to Williamstown and leading to a slight reduction for the budget hit to Lanesborough.
 
The draft budget in front of the committee on Tuesday includes a 13.61 percent increase in the district's assessment to Williamstown and a 10.99 percent hike for Lanesborough.
 
In real dollars, those assessment increases translate to $2,018,000 and $751,000, respectively versus the FY26 assessment to pay for the current school year.
 
Williamstown's assessment is up 0.9 percent from March 3 to March 14 while Lanesborough's is down 0.8 percent, in part because, per the regional agreement, each town pays the operating cost of its elementary school (and splits the cost of the middle-high school based on enrollment). Some of the increased cost in the last two weeks impacts Williamstown Elementary more than Lanesborough Elementary.
 
Tuesday's draft is likely to be relatively unchanged when the School Committee holds its annual public hearing on the budget on Thursday, the same night the committee likely will vote on the final FY27 budget — and resulting assessments — it will send to each member town's annual town meeting in the spring.
 
Superintendent Joseph Bergeron told the committee that the administration and the elected body's Finance subcommittee had been making modest progress on mitigating the assessment increases to both member towns before the district received two gut punches.
 
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