Clarksburg School Committee Fills Vacancy

By Brian RhodesiBerkshires Staff
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CLARKSBURG, Mass. — The School Committee has appointed Mary Giron to its vacant seat.

Giron will become the third member on the board, replacing former member Eric Denette who stepped down recently after moving out of Clarksburg. Denette had declined to run for a second term last spring but accepted after winning through write-in votes. 

North Berkshire School Union Superintendent John Franzoni discussed the vacancy with the two remaining committee members, Chair Laura Wood and Cynthia Brule, at its meeting on Thursday.

"Mary is obviously very dedicated to the town and the school. She should be a great voice on the school committee," he said. 

Giron recently retired after years as the administrative assistant at the school. Franzoni said she was the only applicant for the vacancy.

"We had multiple inquiries and we're very happy that Mary followed through and applied," Franzoni said. "If you approve Mary as a new School Committee member, she can come here Monday morning, get sworn in, and be participating starting in January.

In other business, Kimberly Rougeau, filling in at the meeting for Principal Sandra Cote, updated the committee on the first quarter of the school year. She highlighted a Girls on the Run bake sale, in which they raised money for Berkshire Humane Society.

"You haven't seen a bake sale in years, so it's nice to see. They raised $391 for Berkshire Humane Society and made a lot of people happy," she said. "All the teachers were eating it for lunch, dinner, snack, so that was nice."

Rougeau also mentioned the holiday concert scheduled for Dec 20, which families and others will be able to attend online.



The committee also discussed updating the policy for town residents to use the gymnasium, cafeteria, or any other area of the school building and property. The conversation involved planning around multiple events, how people using the facility would access it, as well as cleanup and other use policies.

"I know there's been inquiries about using the school again, which is great news," Franzoni said.

Franzoni said he would do some further research on the issue.

"I can do a survey and see, beyond North Adams, what other communities do," he said. "... We should look into that a little more. Maybe start allowing it under the old way but have some more discussion about what we actually want to have in that policy."


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North Adams Unveils Renovated Armory Basketball Court

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Two years after a sprinkler malfunction flooded half of the North Adams Armory's gym, and after a lengthy back-and-forth with the insurance company, the city has unveiled the gym's long-awaited new flooring.
 
Children, families, and elected officials gathered Friday to break in the court during a ribbon-cutting ceremony. While 9-year-old Noah Morrissey scored the first basket, the city obtaining the funding to replace the gyms flooring was a score of its own. 
 
When the city first submitted its claim to the insurance company, Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association, it was initially denied, prompting the city to file another claim, Mayor Jennifer Macksey said. 
 
"We pushed harder on them. Then they came back and said they wanted to replace half the floor. How do you replace half of a basketball court?" she said. 
 
So, the city challenged the insurance company's vice president to visit the gym and to do a few laps on it, after which he saw what the paperwork couldn't convey: the gym floor had dead spots and ripples, meaning the entire floor needed to be replaced. 
 
The city brought in Dupee Flooring to help make its case to the insurance company for a full replacement. Once approved, the company installed a new subfloor to level the surface and refinished the court lines.
 
Following the $300,000 renovation, the gym now has layouts for three pickleball courts, one volleyball court, and a basketball court. It is also the home of North Adams Youth Basketball League and other teams from Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public School in Adams and Buxton School in Williamstown. 
 
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