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Pupil Tests Positive for COVID-19 at Pine Cobble School

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires.com
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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- On Tuesday evening, Pine Cobble School confirmed a third member of its community, a pupil, has tested positive for COVID-19.
 
Head of School Sue Wells informed iBerkshires.com of the positive test of a kindergarten student.
 
Earlier in the day, the Wells notified the media that a second kindergarten teacher had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
 
The first positive test of a kindergarten teacher prompted the private elementary school to go fully remote for at least two weeks starting Monday.
 
That first test came back on Saturday, three days after a teacher in the kindergarten went home from school with a fever.
 
At that time, the kindergarten pupils also were sent home, and families were advised to get their children tested at Berkshire Medical Center.
 
The rest of the school remained in session for in-person classes through Friday, until the first positive test came back.
 
At that time, despite a protocol that required the school to go remote after a second test, school officials decided to go fully remote for all grade levels based on the one positive.
 
Pine Cobble's plan for a return to school kept all of its grades in individual cohorts, meaning that there was to be no mixing of students or teachers in different grades.
 
Students and teachers also were following 6-foot social distancing rules and wearing face coverings provided by the school.
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Mount Greylock School Committee Votes Slight Increase to Proposed Assessments

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee on Thursday voted unanimously to slightly increase the assessment to the district's member towns from the figures in the draft budget presented by the administration.
 
The School Committee opted to lower the use of Mount Greylock's reserve account by $70,000 and, instead, increase by that amount the share of the fiscal year 2025 operating budget shared proportionally by Lanesborough and Williamstown taxpayers.
 
The budget prepared by the administration and presented to the School Committee at its annual public hearing on Thursday included $665,000 from the district's Excess and Deficiency account, the equivalent of a municipal free cash balance, an accrual of lower-than-anticipated expenses and higher-than-anticipated revenue in any given year.
 
That represented a 90 percent jump from the $350,000 allocated from E&D for fiscal year 2024, which ends on June 30. And, coupled with more robust use of the district's tuition revenue account (7 percent more in FY25) and School Choice revenue (3 percent more), the draw down on E&D is seen as a stopgap measure to mitigate a spike in FY25 expenses and an unsustainable budgeting strategy long term, administrators say.
 
The budget passed by the School Committee on Thursday continues to rely more heavily on reserves than in years past, but to a lesser extent than originally proposed.
 
Specifically, the budget the panel approved includes a total assessment to Williamstown of $13,775,336 (including capital and operating costs) and a total assessment to Lanesborough of $6,425,373.
 
As a percentage increase from the FY24 assessments, that translates to a 3.90 percent increase to Williamstown and a 3.38 percent increase to Lanesborough.
 
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