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Lori Venezia, a Dalton native, was hired as the town's new executive assistant.

Dalton Hires Executive Assistant to the Town Manager

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
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DALTON, Mass. — The Select Board has appointed Lori Venezia as the new executive assistant to the town manager. She started her role on Monday.
 
Venezia grew up in Dalton and still has family in the area. She said she has a strong childhood connection to the community and is interested in making sure it remains a safe and caring community.
 
"I think it'll help me be in their shoes and put myself in their position and share their feelings and share their concerns," she said. 
 
In this role, Venezia expressed her commitment to supporting the town manager by assisting them to ensure they are successful and meeting deadlines. 
 
She said she would keep the town manager informed of any issues, help with the organization of town meetings, and support the work of committees.
 
"I'm hoping to, you know, reintroduce myself to people, and I was just amazed at the different number of people that I'm going to get an opportunity to work with and the diversity in the work that there's going to be," Venezia said. 
 
"So, for example, interacting with the different committees, I think, is going to allow me to wear different hats and keep it interesting and enjoyable." 
 
The Select Board approved the appointment of Venezia during its meeting on Feb. 24. 
 
During the meeting, Venezia said she noticed that there is a lot of passion within the community. 
 
"I'm happy that a lot of that there's a lot of representation at the meeting. I think that's a good sign," she said. 
 
Venezia has worked in administrative support roles for more than 25 years, since her first job out of college at Mass Mutual as an administrative assistant in the human resources department. 
 
She has particularly worked in the nonprofit and health-care sectors, including Pioneer Valley United Way. 
 
She said she was driven to this career path because it presented an opportunity to utilize her skills, including her "strong" attention to detail, coordination, and project management.
 
When she moved from Springfield to Adams, she was looking for a local job opportunity and landed a position at a law firm as a legal assistant.
 
Venezia has a bachelor of science in human resource management from Western New England University. 
 
Although she has not worked in the government sector previously, she has experience as a liaison between Bay State Health and government officials.
 
In this role, she coordinated with government officials from her role supporting the Government and Community Relations team at Bay State Health.

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Pittsfield School Committee Votes to Close Morningside

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — There were tears as the School Committee on Wednesday voted to close Morningside Community School at the end of the school year. 

Interim Superintendent Latifah Phillips said the purpose of considering the closure is to fulfill the district's obligation to ensure every student has access to a learning environment that best supports academic growth and achievement, school climate, equitable access to resources, and long-term success. 

"While fiscal implications are included, the7 closure of the school is fundamentally driven by the student performance, their learning conditions, the building inadequacy, and equitable student access, rather than the district's budget," she said. 

"…The goal is not to save money. The goal is to reinvest that money to make change, specifically for our Morningside students, and then for the whole school building, as a whole." 

Over the last month or so, the district has considered whether to retire the open concept, community school at the end of the school year. 

Morningside, built in the 1970s, currently serves 374 students in grades prekindergarten through Grade 5, including a student population with 88.2 percent high-needs, 80.5 percent low-income, and 24.3 percent English learners.  Its students will be reassigned to Allendale, Capeless, Egremont, and Williams elementary schools.

The school is designated as "Requiring Assistance or Intervention," with a 2025 accountability percentile of seventh, despite moderate progress over the past three years, and benchmark data continues to show urgent literacy concerns in several grades. 

School Committee member and former Morningside student Sarah Muil, through tears, made the motion to approve the school's retirement at the end of this school year.  

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