CHESHIRE, Mass. — The Hoosac Valley School Committee Monday reflected on the recent loss of a high school graduate and looked at the start of the 2026-27 school year.

 

"It's been a tough couple of weeks in the school," Superintendent Aaron Dean told the committee at its monthly meeting. "Our team has done a great job supporting the kids, supporting the family.

 

"It's a really tough thing to go through. It's not the way we wanted to start the school year in any way. Condolences go out to all who were impacted."

 

The committee heard that memorials on the middle-high school campus are being considered to recognize 2026 graduate Jayquan Williams. The district is planning to let his family and students be part of the process in deciding how to honor Williams.

 

A major part of the committee's first meeting of the school year was hearing updates from the district's three building principals about the start of classes.

 

The newest principal, Dwayne Chamble, told the panel that he is "laser focused" on building relationships at the middle school.

 

Chamble said he has made a point of being present during recess, lunch, pickup and dropoff and transition times in the hall.

 

"The energy has been very positive," Chamble said. "I started an initiative of meeting with all our staff members. … So far those meetings have paid dividends already in terms of overall operations. The relationships and the feedback I've been getting from the professional staff has been positive.

 

"I am a collaborative leader, and I want to have their voices in everything we do."

 

High School Principal Colleen Byrd told the School Committee the focus in grades 9 through 12 is on literacy, as the school continues initiatives it started three years ago.

 

"This year at the high school is really about digging deeper," Byrd said. "How are we making sure every student is getting what they need?

 

"The mission at the high school will be around vocabulary and scaffolding complex text. Students in high school need to know 50,000-plus words by senior year, and they keep going from there."

 

Byrd's report also included news that, as of Monday, the school had 60 students signed up for the school's Student and Adult Advisory Board.

 

"SAAB is an opportunity at the high school where students come together, talk about Hoosac Valley and the things they want to see at their school to make it the best place possible," Byrd said.

 

The elementary school is also focused on literacy this year, Principal Christine Wenz said.

 

"We have completed benchmarking already except for second and third grades," she said. "Then we'll be able to have our data meetings.

 

"Teachers had more professional development from [Hill for Literacy]. They have completed up through Module 8. They will do 9 and 10 on our November professional development day. The Reading League will focus on the kindergarten team, building their capacities so we have nice Tier 1 literacy practice in kindergarten."

 

Dean updated the committee on the status of grant funding for 2026-27, laying out how a little more than $1.8 million in funding from state and federal sources will be allocated.

 

Chair Fred Lora noted that a "significant portion" of the district's operating budget comes from grants and thanked employee Jackie Daniels for helping to prepare grant applications.

 

Dean noted that some grants may be in flux.

 

"There will be other grant opportunities, but we have noticed, with some federal changes in particular, fewer opportunities than we have had in the past," the superintendent said.

 

Dean also used Monday's meeting as a chance to update the committee on the district's practices in cybersecurity in light of a recent cyberattack that forced a four-day closure of the Springfield Public Schools.

 

"I can tell you right now that our IT director doesn't sleep at night because of things happening around the state," Dean said.

 

He emphasized that all users of the schools' computer networks play a role in protecting that infrastructure.

 

"End users are the primary entry point," Dean said. "When people don't follow policies, I equate it to propping the door open to allow people into the building."

 

He walked the committee through how the district uses multi-factor authentication, suspicious mail vigilance, password best practices and policy enforcement to keep its networks safe.

 

"We want the community to know this isn't something we take lightly," he said. "Security of networks and our data is the No. 1 priority with any of this. It probably forces some people to get mad at us for saying, ‘No,' about certain things."

 

Lora said that the committee should plan for a future executive session to discuss cybersecurity strategies in more detail. Security measures are one of the items public bodies are allowed to discuss behind closed doors under the Commonwealth's Open Meeting Law.

 

On a related note, the district plans an Internet Safety Night in conjunction with the Berkshire District Attorney's office for Oct. 7 at 5 p.m. in the middle school auditorium.