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 OKs Budget Without Adding Elementary School Position

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee approved a fiscal year 2027 spending plan  on Thursday that officials characterize as a "level services" budget.
 
The elected body approved the same budget it reviewed two days earlier after deciding not to add an additional full-time teaching position at Williamstown Elementary School as advocated by a half-dozen WES parents who addressed the committee in the annual budget public hearing.
 
That additional position, a math interventionist sought by the WES School Council, would have added about $120,000 (for salary and benefits) to the assessment to Williamstown and raised that assessment to 14.42 percent over the amount raised for the district through Williamstown property taxes in the current fiscal year.
 
Before taking a vote to advance the budget as drafted, School Committee member Jose Constantine moved that the bottom line be increased by the $120,000 necessary for the full-time math interventionist. His motion was defeated, 4-2, with Curtis Elfenbein joining Constantine in the minority and Steven Miller, who joined the meeting late, not voting.
 
The final, original, budget then was passed on a vote of 6-0, setting the stage for the district's presentation to the Williamstown Finance Committee on Wednesday and to the Lanesborough Fin Comm and Select Board on April 6.
 
Ultimately, the budget will show up on the annual town meeting warrants in Lanesborough and Williamstown, where voters later this spring will have an up-or-down vote. The budget approved on Thursday would raise the assessment to Williamstown by 13.61 percent, year-to-year, and in Lanesborough by 10.99 percent.
 
Williamstown would be on the hook for $16.8 million (up about $2 million from FY26). Lanesborough's assessment would be $7.6 million (up by $751,000).
 
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