Expanded Amherst Regional School Update

The Amherst Pelham Regional School Committee voted on Tuesday to continue the mission of the Regional School District Planning Board by agreeing to explore amending the 50+ year old Regional Agreement to allow the current 7-12 Region to extend all the way down to pre-Kindergarten, with only three of the current four towns aboard (Amherst, Leverett and Pelham).

That new agreement, however, would leave open the possibility of Shutesbury joining at the elementary level sometime in the future.

The state recently agreed that such a "hybrid" Region would be acceptable.  

The Regional School Committee also appointed all 12 members of the RSDPB to act as their sub-committee to formulate the necessary change in the Regional Agreement.  If that draft document is then supported by a two-thirds vote of the Regional School Committee the agreement would go to all four Town Meetings in the fall for approval, but would require unanimous support of all four towns.

The major stumbling block for approval in Amherst will be the touchy "governance" issue.  Amherst makes up 88% of the Region yet the new 9 member Regional School Committee will, apparently, consist of 2 members each from Leverett and Pelham and 5 from Amherst.

That barely gives Amherst a majority stake at 55.5% of the vote.

Or what you might call, "fuzzy math."

Current Populations of Four Town Region

Expanded Region Moves Forward (sort of)

 12 member RSDPB outnumber spectators in the audience

The 12 members Regional School District Planning Board, made up of three representatives from all four towns (Amherst, Leverett, Pelham, Shutesbury) in the current 7-12 Region, struggled with developing a "model" palatable to all four towns, but still allowing one (Shutesbury) not to participate at the pre-K through 6 level. 

But leaving the door open -- using the term "on ramp" -- for them to fully join the expanded Region at later date, but within a deadline.  And in the meantime allow for a possible sharing of the Superintendent who would be in charge of the expanded Region.

At one point in the somewhat contentious meeting the facilitator asked "Is there anything you all can agree on?"  To which Pelham representative Trevor Baptiste waxed philosophically, "Aligning curriculum among all four towns is a laudable goal." Dead silence.  "I was just trying to be positive" he quickly added.

Almost three hours later the entire Board voted unanimously to support the motion:

"To amend the current 7-12 agreement to a preK-12 agreement with the option that one of the existing four towns can remain 7-12 as long as that town is not Amherst, and that the town that remained 7-12 has the option to become a preK-12 member within a specified period of time, and that the town that remained 7-12 can negotiate with the Regional School Committee regarding shared superintendency services for their preK-6 school."

The motion is more of a memo that will be sent to the Mass Dept of Elementary and Secondary Education for a preliminary finding on whether the state would consider the creation of such a "Hybrid Region" legal. 

The RSDP Board also discussed turning over the process from here on in to the Regional School Committee but decided they want to stay involved. The Regional School Committee could appoint them as a sub-committee to continue shepherding the process.

The Leverett representative to the RSDPB, Kip Fonsh, is also Chair of the Regional School Committee and he reported their plate is full enough now without taking on this added burden.

During "public comment" Town Meeting member and parent Janet McGowan brought up the issue of governance, concerned the make up of a new Regional School Committee would disproportionally water down the voting power of Amherst who has a population that comprises 88% of the Region.

"Regionalization can't be at the expense of our constitutional rights," said McGowan.

If the state approves the RSDPB memo and the Regional School Committee votes to amend the Regional Agreement to form this "Hybrid Region" all four towns would then have to approve it, each at their individual Town Meeting.

At the end of the almost three hour meeting Chair Andy Steinberg thanked the entire Board saying it was an honor to work with them these past two years, but he was stepping down as chair.

 Andy Steinberg (left) announced he is stepping down as RSDPB Chair

Steinberg on Monday announced he is running for the Amherst Select Board. 

Town official corrects the media

A Bigger Piece of the Pie?

Should Amherst settle for less representation in a Regional School district?

The headlong rush to regionalize local schools at the pre-K through grade 6 level was derailed by our current partner in the 7-12 Region, Shutesbury, pulling out of the proposed merger.  

The Amherst Regional School District Planning Board has been meeting for almost two years and like the gambler who has invested a fortune in a slot machine the urge to see a "return on investment" is exceedingly high.

Thus tonight's meeting is  a crossing (or not) of the Rubicon ... or maybe a Waterloo. 

#####

I've written a letter on the need for proportional representation on any new Regional School Committee. Under the new Regional school committee proposed last Spring, an Amherst resident'

s voting strength was to be 1/10th of a Pelham resident and 1/8th of a Leverett resident. Proportional representation is a Constitutional right but could be given away if Amherst voters or Town Meeting members agree to it by voting to accept a disproportionate new Regional School Committee. 

The smaller towns are greatly concerned about Amherst's size and fear their elementary schools may be closed due to declining enrollments. These are reasonable concerns and the towns should think hard whether to join with Amherst which has 88% of the population of all the towns. But it is, I think, really unreasonable to make it a goal and condition that on any new Regional school committee Amherst's voting power be reduced from 88% to less than 55%. This could make it harder to address the issues and concerns faced by Amherst's elementary school children, parents and schools. Right now, our elementary school committee that is made up of 100% Amherst residents and we control 100% of the $22 million elementary school budget.

If you want to sign this letter, please email me back at janetmcgowan30@comcast.net--with your name, address and your precinct number. Please share my letter with anyone else who you think might be interested. If they want to sign, please ask them to email me with their name, address and say whether they are a Town Meeting member.  The response to this letter has been strong.  

I will present the letter at both the December 5th meetings (and continue to collect names after). The Amherst's members of the RSDPB (Regional School District Planning Board) will meet this Thursday, December 5th in the 1st Floor meeting room at 5:45 at Town Hall and the entire RSDPB will meet in the Town Room from 7 pm to 9 pm.  Please come to these meetings to learn more and voice your concerns.

Thanks.

Janet McGowan

janetmcgowan30@comcast.net

__________________________________________________________

An Open Letter to all Members of the Regional School District Planning Board:

We urge the RSDPB members now exploring different options for regionalizing the elementary schools of Amherst, Leverett, Pelham and Shutesbury to consider both the educational advantages—and the fair and equitable representation for Amherst residents. Amherst now pays 77.37 % of the assessment for the current 7-12 Region, and our population is 88% of the total population for all four towns. Under the one man, one vote Constitutional principal, Amherst must have its fair proportion of the votes on any new Regional school committee.

We support Regionalizing our schools—

· if there are concrete educational benefits for Amherst students,

· if it improves the economic sustainability of Amherst schools, and

· if the votes of Amherst residents have equal weight to the votes in the other towns.

In Amherst, we are from many different cultures, nations, ethnicities, educational backgrounds, economic levels and races. Our voices should be heard in the governance of our Regional school committee and we want our votes counted equally. We do not support Regionalizing if representation on the new Regional school committee is disproportional and Amherst votes are diluted. With the exception of a single Region, in the Commonwealth all other Regions have proportional representation on their school committee or weight the votes of members by town. Each town elects their own members onto their Regional committee. A proposed Pre-K-6 Regional Agreement must recommend no less.

We hope that you will address this critical issue soon. We hope that you keep the public well informed of your discussions and deliberations through media, meetings (with public comment), and emails to town residents and parents—all taking place well before any town votes on a new Region.

Signed:

(name) (address) (town meeting member?)

Fair Representation?

The Regional School District Planning Board will host a public meeting on December 5 and one overriding concern of Amherst residents is fair representation.  Or at least it should be.

By population Amherst makes up 88% of the current Regional School District (Amherst, Leverett, Pelham and Shutesbury) thus a School Committee of 100 members should have 88 of them calling Amherst home.

But alas it doesn't work that way as the current 9 member Regional School Committee is made up of five from Amherst two from Pelham and one each from Leverett and Shutesbury.  Not even close to that great American concept of "proportional representation."

The current attempt to bring Kindergarden through 6th grade into the mix will be even more disproportional since Shutesbury will not be joining, thus pushing Amherst to over 90% of the proposed Region.

Amherst RSDPB reps: Katherine Appy, Alisa Brewer, Andy Steinberg (Chair)

The make up of the  Regional School District Planning Board already hints at the problem with whatever "plan" they come up with, since the committee was founded with 12 members equally divided between the four towns. 

One (Pelham) member last summer somewhat addressed the potential tail-wagging-the-dog scenario by saying it would "save Amherst from themselves," a thinly veiled (nasty) reference to Catherine Sanderson's tumultuous reign on the Amherst School Committee.

A time when progress was actually being made, but bitterly opposed every centimeter of the way.

The meeting December 5 is not getting nearly the public attention it deserves.  Interestingly the RSDPB hired a PR firm to come up with a "marketing plan" back when they were attempting to fast track a completed plan to the voters by the November elections. 

#####

Regional School District Planning Board (RSDPB) Thursday, December 5, from 7-9 pm  in the Town Room in Town Hall

Fast Track Slowed

 Regional School District Planning Board  June 15

One of the stories that will get lost in the wake of the contentious Select Board decision tonight not to squander $6.5 million tax dollars for an "unremarkable" forest is the (formerly) head long rush to regionalize our pre-Kindergarten through 6th grade with partners Leverett and Pelham will now be delayed for a full year.

We of course already have a 50+ year old Region at the 7th through 12th grade level with Leverett, Pelham and Shutesbury, so the mission creep to the lower grades is seen as a natural way to standardize education throughout the entire system.

But Shutesbury upset the apple cart by withdrawing from the about-to-be-proposed Region, although representative Michael DeChiara continues to attend and participate in meetings of the Regional School District Planning Board. 

One of the problems to overcome is the lopsided make up of the proposed Region -- at least as far as governance is concerned.  Even if all four towns agree to rationalize the way they do now for Middle and High School, Amherst still makes up 88% of the region for population.

Currently the Regional School Committee is governed by 9 members: five from Amherst, 2 from Pelham and one each from Leverett and Shutesbury.  Thus Amherst has 55% of the voting power to represent 88% of the people, and little old Pelham has 22% of the voting power while representing only 3% of the population. 

Daniel Shays would be so proud.

The problem (worth fighting over) is the RSDPB doesn't seem concerned about rectifying a balance of power that significantly shortchanges Amherst.

6/24 update to Amherst Select Board:  "Ugh!"