Hoosac Valley Regional Could Move Offices to Adams
CHESHIRE, Mass. — The Hoosac Valley Regional School Committee could be moving its district offices from Cheshire to Adams once the lease for the current office space expires.
The committee discussed the potential move at its Monday meeting, with the Adams Visitor Center at 3 Hoosac St. being the primary candidate for the new offices. The Visitor Center is occupied by the Adams Council on Aging, which is currently in the process of relocating to the former Memorial School Building.
The building had originally been occupied by the former Berkshire Visitors Bureau until that organization merged as part of 1Berkshire in Pittsfield. The center has offices on the second floor and a meeting room, public bathrooms and the Thunderbolt Ski Museum on the first.
Committee Chair Michael Mucci said he and others on the committee toured the center and he thinks it would work as the district's office space, with the size of the facility being the only significant downside. Mucci said the cost of leasing the building would be half of what they pay for their current offices, located in the old Cheshire School.
"It's much nicer, it has much nicer amenities," Mucci said of the Adams Visitor Center. "But it's much smaller; the overall footprint."
The committee plans on reaching out to Cheshire officials to see if they would be willing to lower the lease price for the current space. Another priority, Mucci said, for any lease is that it is longer than just one year.
"I think one of the things we would like to avoid is, kind of, punting for one year and then being in the same position where we're all talking about this again next year," he said. "I think putting a request out to Cheshire, both for the price for next year, but also potentially for multiple years, talking to that price and seeing if it's negotiable, so this committee can have all the information it can have to make a decision or a recommendation on what we should do for office space."
The district offices stayed in Cheshire School after the school was closed five years ago. The relationship between the school district and town officials hasn't always been congenial, with the town calling for more rent -- not less -- from the district.
In other business, the committee heard a presentation from Kristen Palatt, director of curriculum for the district, on student learning data and goals. Palatt said the learning benchmark data is promising, noting most students show growth considered typical to aggressive in most categories.
Superintendent Aaron Dean commended the district's teachers for their hard work and dedication to students despite the continued strain of the pandemic.
"We've asked a lot of our teachers this year," he said. "We've asked them to implement curriculum. We've asked them to learn new programs and bring students along during some of the most difficult times that we've had. And they've stepped up in a big way and have been doing what we've asked. And to see results and growth coming from that. It's what everybody needs; to know that we are doing things right. We are doing things well here."
The committee discussed the district's scholarship account and the possibility of investments as an option to grow the account's funds. Public accountant Richard Jette presented the board with several options for investing.
Jette said the district does not currently have an investment policy and noted it would not be a significant task to create one. The committee decided to table the discussion until its policy subcommittee could look into it.
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