2016 Story Of The Year

'Twas a story that played out over too many months, too many Regional School Committee executive sessions and a final payout of way too many tax dollars -- $309,000 -- before it came to an ignominious end.

The precipitous fall of School Superintendent Maria Geryk, the highest paid town employee, is a cautionary tale that serves to remind us of the old maxim about absolute power corrupting absolutely.

Mike Morris, Maria Geryk, Amherst School Committee at Town Meeting May, 2016

Sure, there were grumblings over her entire tenure about failed academic programs, a seemingly revolving door for school principals, the high average cost per student driving our taxes skyhigh  and the steady stream of students choosing charter schools over our hometown offerings.

But over the course of five years nothing seriously challenged her throne until Ms. Geryk made one fatal monumental error in judgment:  issuing a "stay away order" to a single mother simply trying to get the public school system do something about the somewhat racially charged bullying of her 7-year-old daughter.

A story I first broke on April 14th and published over a dozen follow ups over the next four months. 

But that first story was my highest read (20,000+) and most commented story (210) of the year and it set off a slow rumble leading to a major earthquake whose aftershocks will be felt for a very long time.

For instance the failure of the $67 million Mega School can be directly attributed to Maria Geryk's insistence on having it her way even though the vast majority of parents and teachers preferred a different academic model to solving the physical problems with Wildwood and Fort River Elementary schools.

And after almost four years of deliberations the attempt to e-x-p-a--n-d  regionalization from the current 7-12 system all the way down to K-6 went front burner to back burner to dead & buried as well as the idea of merging the Regional Middle School students into the Regional High School thus freeing up that building for other productive uses.

Now the schools are searching for a another Superintendent and a couple of Principals.  And of course I will get the blame for bringing down Maria Geryk and creating a "toxic" atmosphere that no sane bureaucrat will wish to endure even for the overly generous salary the position guarantees.

Eric Nakajima was appointed to Amherst School Committee by Select Board and School Committee vote

But the recent appointment of Eric Nakajima to the Amherst School Committee and his quick election as Chair of the Regional School Committee to replace Laura Kent, a rookie who couldn't handle the pressure,  offers the best hope we've seen in a l-o-n-g while.

2017 promises to be an interesting year -- hopefully not in the Chinese curse sort of way.

A peaceful 4 Town Meeting

Maria Geryk, ARPS Superintendent

Representatives of all fours towns in the Amherst Regional Public School District met this beautiful Saturday morning for not much more than an hour to hear from the administration about the FY17 budget, up 2.6% over last year, and to hear updates about expanding Regionalization all the way down to preK-6th, and consolidating Regional Middle School students into the Regional High School.

 Amherst Assistant and Temp Town Manager Dave Ziomek, Peter Hechenbleikner attended

There was not much to update on those last two items since the Regional School Committee voted on Thursday to delay for a year the expanded Regionalization and last month voted to delay school consolidations.

Mainly because Amherst has so much on their plate at the moment, with the new $65+ million 2-in-1 mega school currently on the fast track.

 Always colorful Trevor Baptiste, Chair of the Regional School Committee (standing)

But Kathy Mazur did give a brief presentation pointing out the previous high water mark for enrollment at the Middle and High schools was 2,000 total, and September's projected total occupancy is only 1300.  The High School has a capacity of 1,700 or way more room for all the current students in the Region.

Spectators included State Rep & School Committee candidates and that rarest of breeds, a print reporter

Mazur estimated the savings to the Region after consolidation comes to $800,000.

Administrators wish to form working groups from all four towns to discuss the assessment method, merging the Middle School into High School, and what to do with the Middle School after it becomes surplus to the Region's academic needs, plus the enormous capital costs coming up in the not so distant future.

Ms. Mazur pointed out there's great interest in repurposing the Middle School building for the arts as well as space for Amherst Media, Greenfield Community College and the Amherst Boys & Girls Club.

Amherst's recreation department (LSSE) is already moving in to a 3,500 square foot space next month in the rear of the Middle School.

Regional Middle School (bottom center) Amherst Wildwood Elementary (top)

Of course Amherst taxpayers may wonder why they are financing essentially two new elementary schools to replace both Wildwood and Fort River when this building is a Frisbee throw away from Wildwood.

After an hour of mostly cordial discussion Superintendent Maria Geryk came to the key sales closing asking each town, "Will you pay your assessment?"

They all said yes.  Of course now all four Town Meetings also have to approve.

Regional School Expansion Delayed Again

Regional School Committee, 9 members from 4 towns (5 of them Amherst)

The four year slog to expanding the four town regional public school education system from grades 7-12 all the way down to pre-K-6 will just have to wait another year, as the Regional School Committee voted this evening to suspend discussion of the matter until January, 2017.

Katherine Appy, Amherst School Committee Chair and major cheerleader for expanded Regionalization, said Amherst simply has too much going on with a proposed new mega school and consolidation of the Middle School students into the High School.

The vote was 7-2 in favor of the delay with Vira Douangmany Cage and Stephen Sullivan voting no.

Mr. Sullivan, a Shutesbury representative, said this delay was unfair to three other towns who are members of Union 28 -- Wendell, Erving and New Salem -- aligned with Leverett and Shutesbury at grades K-6.  This delay leaves them in limbo for another year.

Furthermore, Sullivan announced Shutesbury public officials (Select Board, Finance and School Committees) will recommend their Town Meeting vote "No" on both questions concerning Regionalization.

The first question asks if voters will approve the Regional Agreement be amended to allow for the expansion of the Region, and the second question asks if you wish your town to join.  All four towns must vote "Yes" to the first question or the entire endeavor fails.

So tonight's School Committee vote to delay is really only a stay of execution.

The 10% Solution

Representatives from Amherst, Pelham, Leverett & Shutesbury met today 

Officials from all four towns came together this afternoon at the Regional Middle School trying to work out some sort of compromise so all four towns could start building their budgets.

In order to dissuade Shutesbury from implementing the "The Nuclear Option", whereby their Town Meeting votes down the Regional Assessment Method from the current rolling five year average cost per pupil basis, which would then automatically reverts the Region to the "Statutory Method" based (somewhat) on ability to pay, Finance Director Sean Mangano hatched a compromise.

For this upcoming Fiscal Year stay with the current method for 90% of the budget and the other 10% use the state's Statutory Method but with open space & tax exempt properties removed from the formula.

 1st slide:  School administrators wanted everyone to play nice

Under this scheme Amherst would stay at around a 2.5% increase next year while both Leverett and Pelham would pay a little more in order for Shutesbury to pay a little less ($25,000).

Superintendent Maria Geryk told them, ""We will do our part in making cuts, adapting to a long term structural deficiency.  I'm just hoping we can stay connected and working together."

The meeting did get heated at times with one member pointing out, "There’s always another alternative formula where you will pay less.  One town will always be in that position."

At the Four Towns Meeting two weeks ago Shutesbury presented an alternative method that simply reverted back to the Statutory Method, but phased in over the next four years (25% per year).

And they strongly suggested their Town Meeting could vote down the current method if the plan was not adopted.  That was met with a storm of sharp criticism from the other towns.

The subject of expanding the Region from the current 7-12 all the way down to PreK through 6th grade did come up, as some members believe it will save money.  But if Shutesbury votes no to reopening the Regional Agreement, the process is dead.

One member suggested helping Shutesbury by tweaking the funding formula should be tied to their support for passing Regionalization, even if they as a town do not wish to join the expanded Region.

All four Town Meetings will vote on the expanded Region this spring, and it takes unanimous approval to pass.  Two questions will be presented:  Should the Regional Agreement be reopened/amended for the sake of Regionalization, and 2) do you wish to join the expanded Region?

It's only the first question that requires unanimous approval, the second question does not.

As long as Amherst, who is 78% of the Region, approves along with at least one other town, the expanded Region is formed.  The remaining towns will simply stay on as part of the 7-12 Region.

Complicated?  You bet.

The Nuclear Option

Shutesbury representatives dealing with a tough crowd

Well over half the 2.5 hour  "Four Towns Meeting" this morning consisted of sometimes vitriolic discussion of Shutesbury's self serving presentation requesting a change in the Regional Assessment formula from the current rolling five year average (equal cost per student) back to the state Statutory Method which uses a blend of voodoo based on property values, average income and aggregate wealth.

Simply put, the main difference is between perceived "ability to pay" versus the undeniable equity of everybody pays the exact same cost per students.  Thus the more students you have in the system the higher your costs.

And Shutesbury representatives were quick to admit that their costs are going up because of increased enrollments.

Outgoing Finance Director Sandy Pooler pointed out there are "Imperfections in statutory method measurement of wealth"

Response from the other three towns was downright testy ranging from a Pelham official branding it "really outrageous" to Leverett representative Kip Fonsh linking it to Shutesbury's lack of support for the expanded Regionalization from current grades 7-12 all the down to PreK:

"Context is everything.  The Regional Agreement has worked remarkably well over five decades. I'm profoundly distressed and disturbed over this presentation.  You failed to put forth the expanded Regional proposal that was four years in the making.  This past year all I’ve heard is lack of action on the part of Shutesbury to educate its citizens about how Regionalization would address their needs.  I have not heard a single positive thing!  Now I hear Michael DeChiara saying he would not support it.  If you don’t advertise, people will not come out.  This presentation represents a shift in the culture of the Region.  You have not lifted a finger for Regionalization.  That’s alarming." 

The four town school Region is bound by a 50+ year old Regional Agreement that requires a unanimous vote of all four Town Meetings to amend.  But only three of four are needed to pass the annual budget.

 Town reps were a mix of school committee, finance committee and select board

The Region has used the current equitable five year rolling average assessment method since 2008 and any method that differs from the state Statutory Method must also be approved by all four towns.

Every year since 2008 all four towns have passed a Town Meeting article calling for use of the alternative method to fund the Regional School Budget, and then the next article to pass would be their share of that budget.

So in other words little Shutesbury, with only 4% of the Region's population, can vote down the use of the more equitable method favored by the other 96% and that would then automatically switch financing back to the original statutory method.

Either way the proposed budget contribution of $19,539,329 from the four towns stays the same.

Of course at that point two other towns could then vote down the budget (which requires three-out-of-four to pass) because they dislike the extra increase in costs shifted to them.

Like Amherst for instance.  Under the current assessment method Amherst would pay $15,196,144  of the total budget of $19,539,329 a 2.5% increase over last year; but under the Statutory Method  Amherst would pay $15,465,851 an additional increase of $269,707 or a 4.3% increase over last year.

The Amherst Finance Committee has set guidelines for all town departments to keep budget increases to a maximum of 2.5%.

Shutesbury representatives did seem shell shocked by the universally hostile reaction to their budget eating Modest Proposal, and chances are they're only bluffing,  however:

Amherst Finance Committee Chair Kay Moran said the towns may want to think about creating two town budgets this year, one with each method. 

Turmoil In Public Education?

Merging Middle School into High School does not seem to be going well

The public schools can't seem to do anything right these days.

The "Hurricane Revisioning Summit" on Saturday unconvered overwhelming opposition to merging the Middle School into the High School for budgetary reasons and the Amherst School Committee recently backed away from voting on the administrations request for an expensive shiny new mega school. At least until January.

And the Regionalization expansion from grades 7-12 all the way down to kindergarten seems more and more unlikely -- especially since it only takes one town of the four to vote no.   Something Shutesbury seems destined to do.

On Halloween, appropriately enough, I published an exchange between Amherst Regional Middle School Principal Mendonsa and former teacher now parent of a child in the system Alfie Alschuler.  Since over 5,000 read the exchange I figured you would be interested in his follow up.

Let the conversation continue ...

Click to enlarge/read

Educational Point/Counterpoint

Amherst Public Schools are nothing if not colorful these days

With all that's going on with the Amherst Public School system -- new school, expanded regionalization, merging Middles School students into the High School, etc -- it's easy to forget teaching, that most basic function taking place in a classroom.

I found this exchange between a former ARMS teacher/parent and Principal Mendonsa interesting.

   Education Clash Of Ideas

Regionalization Snoozer

Only a half dozen parents participated in last night's public forum

Last night's public forum in Amherst -- the first of four in our public school Region -- does not bode well for those who champion public involvement in major bureaucratic/governmental decisions.

In this case the expansion of the current grades 7-12 public education empire that combined the little towns of Pelham, Leverett, Shutesbury with the not so little town of Amherst over sixty years ago.

Thirty people came to the Regional High School library for the not overly well advertised event, but the vast majority were town or school officials.  Only six spectators who came to the microphone with questions -- four from Amherst -- identified themselves as parents.

 Town Moderator Jim Pistrang, Sandy Pooler, Katherine Appy, Alisa Brewer

Town Finance Director Sandy Pooler was forthright about the dollar aspect of the decision saying, "There's no significant financial impact one way or the other. Finances shouldn't drive this decision."

 About half the $600K "savings" comes from Amherst medicaid money

And like any good public speaker he closed on the same theme:  "This is not a financial decision for the town of Amherst, it's an educational decision."

The usual theme of unifying education was the pitch promoted by school officials, although some in the audience worried about too much conformity.

And the time saved by only having to file one report with the state for the Region rather than the current three (at about 1,000 pages per year per report).

Select Board Chair Alisa Brewer tried to handle the governance issue but like that Facebook relationship status, "It's complicated."  Amherst would have 7 elected members on the newly expanded 13 member Regional School Committee, with the other three towns each having two representatives.

But all voters in all four towns would get to vote on all 13 members.   One Shutesbury official wondered how it would make a Shutesbury representative feel when he/she were elected with over 90% input from voters outside of Shutesbury.

And town official Marylou Theilman pointed out a town could decide not to join the expanded Region (but as long as they vote yes to reopening the Regional Agreement the expansion can still happen) and therefor their representative would still have a say over elementary schools even though they do not have a financial stake in the matter.

Town Meeting member, parent and Regionalization watch dog Janet McGowan sent an email earlier in the day to the School Committee requesting officials hold another public meeting in November with better advance information distribution. 

Simply put, when education is your product the smarter approach is indeed transparency.

Vince O'Connor:  "It's depressing to go to meetings like this and see how ineffective public officials are at getting parents of color to attend."

Amherst Regionalization Forum

10/1 Regional School Committee meeting started with moment of silence for John Musante

Only you overly dialed in folks probably know about the Amherst Regional Public School sponsored forum tomorrow night (6:30 PM)  at the High School Library.

With all that is going on in the schools -- merging the Middle School into the High School, renovating or replacing Wildwood Elementary -- it's hard to keep track of major issues.

This forum is regarding regionalizing the entire four town District from the current 7-12 all the way down to kindergarten through 6th grade.

The move requires ALL FOUR TOWNS to vote yes to reopening the Regional Agreement, but then a town could still vote no to actually joining the expanded Region.

One of the biggest mistakes school officials have made over the past FOUR YEARS on this particular subject is not embracing transparency and outreach on this important topic.

The Regional School Committee heard a report at their October 1 meeting from a hastily appointed sub-committee on the Public Relations efforts used to promote the forums, which will be held in all four towns:  Amherst goes first tomorrow, Leverett on October 21, Shutesbury on November 18.  Pelham has yet to schedule theirs.

The presentation will, naturally, rely on a Powerpoint presentation.  Superintendent Maria Geryk said the goal is "to make the presentations as short as possible and spend as much time as possible answering questions." 

Regional School Committee members will also be on hand to answer questions as well, although a quorum is not necessary.

Interestingly presenters will include Sandy Pooler the town's Finance Director, not Sean Mangano the School District's top finance guy; and Select Board Chair Alisa Brewer (the town's highest elected official), who was formerly a School Committee member.  And Town Meeting moderator Jim Pistrang will moderate.

Lets hope all the town/school officials don't outnumber the audience. 

Regionalization Round Up Continued

Regional School Committee voted last night to get busy in October with Regionalization

The cattle drive merging the four-town Regional School District from current grades 7-12 all the way down to pre-Kindergarten, after four years of pretty much behind closed doors discussion, will pick up the more public pace in October.  Somewhat dramatically.

Last night the Regional School Committee voted to ad an October 1st meeting to their busy schedule and to form a sub committee (Kip Fonsh, Trevor Baptiste and Stephen Sullivan) to create a Public Relations "Presentation" to sell Regionalization to the general public.

The idea is to have "Public Forums" in all four towns -- Amherst, Pelham, Leverett and Shutesbury -- with each of the forums being an official meeting of the Regional School Committee (thus requiring at least 5 of nine members present).

The presentation will be the standard powerpoint variety based on the document to amend the current Regional Agreement, and school administrators (Superintendent Maria Geryk and Assistant Superintendent Mike Morris) will be on hand to answer questions.

All the public forums will be held close together in October to create, according to Chair Trevor Baptiste, "A rolling momentum of the scuttlebutt of Regionalization."

The Regional School Committee has also kicked around the idea of hiring a PR firm to handle outreach although member Vira Douangmany Cage keeps reminding members the in-house 'Amherst Together' initiative should be assisting with the public relations.

Long time audience observer Marylou Theilman suggested the proposed Regional Agreement be posted on town and school websites ASAP and also pointed out the current document lacked the stamp identifying it as a "draft".   It would also be helpful if the pages were numbered.

After the four public forums in October the Regional School Committee will have a few months to discuss any changes and resubmit the proposal to the School District's attorney for a final rewrite in time for presentation to all four Town Meetings in the spring.

In order to amend the Regional Agreement and make this happen all four towns must vote yes.  Shutesbury officials, however,  continuously telegraph they will vote "no."

   Regional Public Schools expansion

Regionalization Lurches Forward

 Amherst Regional High Schoool

After four years of work by their sub-committee the Amherst Pelham Regional School Committee gave majority support to the concept of expanding the current grades 7-12 Region (Middle & High School) all the way down to Kindergarten - 6th grade.

The RSC voted 5-4 at their June 23rd meeting to forward the Regional Agreement Working Group final report to attorney Giny Tate (again) with one slight amendment -- changing the term of School Committee members from four years to a mix of two and four year terms.

Newly reelected RSC Chair Trevor Baptiste will work this summer with attorney Tate and Superintendent Maria Geryk to ensure the draft agreement is back by September 1st.

But in order for the proposal to really move forward so it can be voted on by all four towns it requires a two-thirds affirmative vote of the Regional School Committee.  That all-important vote is expected to come before March 1st so all four towns can vote on it in the  Spring of 2016. 

The governance of the new Region would be an unwieldy 13 member Regional School Committee with 7 members from Amherst and two each from the Leverett, Pelham and Shutesbury.  Currently the Regional School Committee is a total of 9 members, 5 from Amherst, 2 from Pelham and one each from Shutesbury and Leverett.

Why Pelham currently gets two committee members is anybody's guess, considering both Leverett and Shutesbury's population are considerable larger than Pelham.

And with Amherst providing 88% of the population (and funding) is it really fair for the new governance scheme to reduce the power of Amherst to only a 54% majority?

The Committee kept the provision requiring 8 votes to close a school, even though member Dan Robb suggested two-thirds (9 votes) provided a "higher bar."   Even at 8 that means the seven Amherst members must still win over at least one other member from the other three towns.

 Financial analysis:  $600,000 savings is a tad disingenuous

Interestingly the concept of closing the Regional Middle School, located in Amherst,  and combining the students into the Regional High School, also located in Amherst, is currently on the radar.

The smaller hilltowns are of course concerned that the new Region would close their elementary school for the good of the Region.  Both Pelham and Leverett have declining school populations with status quo budgets getting harder and harder to maintain.

Some Amherst officials fear those two financially strapped towns could someday vote down the Regional budget if economic relief is not found.  The current Regional Agreement requires 3 out of 4 towns vote yes for the overall budget to pass.  

So can those two desperate towns drive the entire expanded Regionalization movement?  The new  Region cannot form without the unanimous support of all four towns.

Shutesbury is certainly not having any part of it.  At the February 24 Regional School Committee meeting RAWG member Michael DeChiara flat out announced he was voting No to the new Region and would be recommending voters at Shutesbury Town Meeting follow his lead.

DeChiara, a former School Committee member, has since gone on to be elected to the Shutesbury Select Board -- the highest political office in town -- so his influence alone could be a deal killer.

   Amherst Regional School expansion vote

Should Everyone Get A Trophy?

Today's Gazette above the fold story (at least they used a question mark)

Well I guess now I know why the Gazette sent a photographer (but not a reporter) to the Amherst Regional School Committee meeting on Tuesday: Today's whiny front page soap opera piece about the supposed poisoned political climate in town.

Had the reporter attended the Regional School Committee meeting readers could have been informed about the one-hour discussion that took place concerning expanded Regionalization -- the most  important educational decision facing the four towns in more than a generation.

All the more important for print coverage since Amherst Media, although contractually obligated to, failed to cover it (too busy covering the town sponsored 3rd annual parking forum I suppose).

And where was the Gazette when former School Committee member Catherine Sanderson was being raked over the coals five years ago for telling it like it is on her blog?

The establishment went so far as to file a letter of complaint with the District Attorney about her outspokenness -- a clear violation of the First Amendment.   Thus sending the unmistakable message that if you question authority, you will be crushed.

Seemingly every year someone dies horribly while hiking in the White Mountains because they choose to set off ill-prepared for the journey.

Amherst politics is not a casual stroll along the bike path, but neither is it an ascent up Mt. Washington.

I would not have it any other way.

Regionalization: Not Dead Yet

Regional School Committee last night

Unlike the strong skepticism expressed at their meeting two weeks ago, perhaps brought on by the mad rush to seek approval in time for this year's Town Meeting season, last night the Amherst Pelham Regional School Committee expressed optimism over the prospect of regionalizing the current grades 7-12 all the way down to preK through 6th grade.

Amherst School Committee member Rick Hood started off the one-hour discussion saying they should "keep working" on the project (after more than three years of committee work culminating with the Regional Agreement Working Group final report) especially if it allows a future "on ramp" for any town, like Shutesbury, who is not yet ready to make the leap.

In order for the educational expansion to happen all four towns via their Town Meeting must approve amending the current 60-year-old Regional Agreement but then one or two could vote not to join at the current time.

 RAWG member Kip Fronsh appeared at Public Comment period to lobby for Regionalization

Mr. Hood cited the $600,000 savings figure saying, "It's a big deal, if it's real."  A sentiment echoed later by other committee members.  Although Shutesbury member Steve Sullivan pointed out that financial projection "was old" and a study should be done for fresher figures.

Governance is still a major stumbling block with members expressing skepticism over a 13 member supersized Regional School Committee (7 from Amherst and 2 from each of the hilltowns).  Rick Hood suggested a RSC of seven member, four from Amherst and one each from Pelham, Leverett and Shutesbury.

But other members thought that would be too much work and pressure on a lone town representative to the powerful new committee. 

RSC Chair from Pelham Trevor Baptiste said bringing financial sustainability to the Pelham Elementary School was his main objective but it was "debatable" if the money savings was worth it.  He liked the idea of district wide elections to the new super-committee because it would "reduce factionalism."

Amilcar Shabazz attending his final meeting via "remote participation" said confidently from Rick Hood's Mac computer:  "This can be done."

Committee Chair Baptiste then suggested for RSC meetings over the next year a major bullet point from the Regional Agreement Working Group report be put on the agenda for a 20 minute or so discussion.

And in the near future all three hilltown School Committees be invited in for a discussion. 

Marylou Theilman pointed out from the audience that it had been a good, long-overdue discussion but it was shame Amherst Media was not there to cover it, especially since a major criticism of the project has been the lack of public outreach.

The Chair, who has previously touted his respect for "transparency",  responded that maybe the reason the conversation/discussion went so well is because officials felt more comfortable without the cameras running.

Hmm ... 

Regionalization Not Ready For Prime Time

RSC voted unanimously to support $30 million budget but no vote on Regionalization

The Amherst Pelham Regional School Committee closed the door on sending an agreement to all four Town Meetings this year by not coming to a vote in favor of the draft document presented to them last month by their subcommittee, the Regional Agreement Working Group.

Since the education expansion involves amending the Regional Agreement it would have required a two-thirds vote of the committee and then must be approved by all four town meetings. 

Currently the four towns -- Amherst, Leverett, Pelham, and Shutesbury -- have been joined in a Region at grades 7-12 for almost 60 years.

 RSC Chair Trevor Baptiste (center)

Regional School Committee Chair Trevor Baptiste started the meeting (8 minutes late) by saying the agenda allowed ten minutes of discussion on the idea but that it should serve to come up with an outline for a longer discussion at their upcoming March 24 meeting.

The Select Board is scheduled to sign the Amherst Town Meeting final warrant at their March 23rd meeting.

The discussion then went on for almost 45 minutes with most members solidly agreeing a lot more time is needed to flesh out a regional agreement, even after the three years of work by their sub-committee.

While improving  the quality of education at the preK-6 level is paramount it still has to  be politically palatable enough to pass all four town meetings, and Amherst School Committee member Kathleen Traphagen suggested it would be helpful if actual cost savings could be documented.

The School Committee's attorney has yet to provide them with a legally vetted document that imbeds all the changes suggested by RAWG into the current Regional Agreement, so it would have been all but impossible to vote on it this evening anyway.

As generations of Boston Red Sox fans would say, "We'll get 'em next year!"

Regionalization Round Up

Andy Steinberg, Katherine Appy, Alisa Brewer

Maybe it was the snow squall that hit about an hour before the scheduled 6:00 pm start or maybe parents were busy getting dinner on the table, but last night's turnout for the 1st public forum on school regionalization since the Regional Agreement Working Group issued their three-years-in-the-making final report was less than encouraging.  Way less.

In fact Amherst School Committee and wanna be candidates for same and Select Board members outnumbered parents or Amherst Town Meeting members, the main target demographic for the forum.

 Empty chairs outnumbered spectators

Amherst School Committee Chair Katherine Appy extolled the virtue of an "aligned" curriculum.  Currently when the elementary students from Leverett and Shutesbury hit the Regional Middle School at 7th grade it reportedly takes months "to get them on the same page".

Although Ms. Appy was careful to say they were not less fit as students.

Currently Superintendent Maria Geryk has to prepare reports/budgets for three different school districts:  Amherst and Pelham elementary grades and the Region grades 7-12.

Each district requires 110 reports or 330 total.  Blending them all into one region would reduce those state mandated reports by two-thirds.

The 7-12 Region is comprised of four independent towns -- Amherst, Pelham, Leverett, Shutesbury -- all of them proud of their non-aligned elementary schools.  Thus they are like Greek city states prior to the Persian invasion.  Happy with their ethnocentric independence.

Andy Steinberg presented the economic argument which he described as "A lot harder to explain."  The first year of full regionalization would only see a 2% savings and that's probably a best case scenario.

Savings come from state regional transportation reimbursement and two towns -- Leverett and Shutesbury -- breaking free of their current Union alliances with other districts.  But those savings are pretty much offset by teacher pay increases for bringing their elementary teachers up to the current pay scale of the Amherst Region.

Steinberg worries that with revenues not keeping pace with expenditures, two of the partner towns may someday vote down their assessment for the Regional 7-12 budget in order to help fund their elementary operations.  The Regional Agreement requires 3 of 4 towns approval to pass the budget.  

The Regional Agreement also requires unanimous approval in order to amend it.  All four Town Meetings would need to approve the newly expanded Region, after the Regional School Committee has supported the idea with a two-thirds vote.

Shutesbury has already all but declared a "NO" vote, which alone kills the idea.  Since they could vote yes to allowing the region but then vote no to joining it, why would they spoil the parade for other three towns?

Probably because they fear the newly expanded Region would not be as cost effective as advertised and would lead to an increase in their grades 7-12 assessment, which is hard enough to pay under current conditions.

Last night Katherine Appy was vague as to whether the Regional School Committee would even come to an official vote at their upcoming March 10 meeting.

And with their next scheduled meeting after that not until April 14 -- too late to get the issue on  Town Meeting warrants in all four towns -- March 10 is pretty much do or die.

Or I should say, do or delay.  

Regionalization Train Wreck

Amherst Regional School Committee all 9 members (including one by remote participation)

Even before the Amherst Regional School Committee could get to the official agenda item scheduled for 6:20 to discuss the 3.5 years in the making Regional Agreement Working Group report, RAWG member Michael DeChiara dropped a bombshell during "public comment", telling the committee he would not support the proposal and would be telling his Shutesbury constituents to vote it down.

Michael DeChiara, Maria Geryk (Amilcar Shabazz above her), Michael Morris

All four towns in the Region -- Amherst, Pelham, Leverett and Shutesbury -- must vote yes in order to change the 50+ year old Regional Agreement, to allow for the region to extend from the current 7-12 all the way down to include elementary level pre-K through 6th grades.

When the Regional Committee then started discussing the RAWG proposal Shutesbury representative Stephen Sullivan echoed DeChiara's concerns and clearly said he would vote no.

Parent and Town Meeting member Janet McGowan told the committee the public outreach on Regionalization has been nonexistent

Amherst representatives were also less than impressed:  Lawrence O'Brien said he "had concerns", Rick Hood said it was "not ready", Kathleen Traphagen did not see any "compelling educational case" and the disembodied voice of Amilcar Shabazz (using remote participation) could not have been any more clear:  "Put a stop on the school attorney from doing any more work on this matter.  Moving in this direction now should be Dead On Arrival."

Kathleen Traphagen

Katherine Appy was the lone member of the entire 9 member Regional School Committee to speak in favor of the idea.  The RSC is scheduled to vote on this Regionalization proposal at their next  meeting, March 10.

Since it involves amending the Regional Agreement it will require a supermajority two-thirds vote.  Had the vote been taken at this meeting it certainly looked like it would be 8-1 against. 

Rick Hood said they should continue to move forward with the public forums (March 3 for Amherst ) but the timeline for all four towns to vote an the agreement should be pushed back until spring, 2016.

It has already been 3.5 years for this particular regionalization agreement and some members mentioned previous attempts date back 40 years or more, so what's another year.  

Not overly crowded audience in attendance

Worth Tweeting About?

Amherst Regional Public School Twitter account

One of the sillier ideas floated at last night's Amherst Regional School Committee meeting is to rely on Twitter as an official "repository" for questions and information dissemination concerning the controversial Regionalization effort expanding the current 7th - 12th grade four-town Region all the way down to Pre-K through 6th grade.

Yes, in this digital age two-thirds of Americans use Social Media but only about 16% are on Twitter.  Facebook is still the king, with well over half of all Americans participating.

The Amherst Regional Public School Twitter account, with 261 followers, does not have a stellar following of parents/guardians considering the total enrollment at ARPS is 1,441 students -- over five times that.  (And presumable a fair number of students have two parents or guardians.)

Maria Geryk does not have a Twitter account, but there is a parody account

And unlike Facebook, with Twitter there's a 140 character limit per tweet, which kind of limits complicated discussions.  Although Twitter is absolutely awesome for breaking news.

Interestingly, one of the many complaints the Regional School Committee heard last night during "Public Comment" came from Janet McGowan concerning transparency and public outreach over this important, expensive endeavor, which one RSC hilltown member aptly described now as a "race to Town Meetings."

Regional Roadblock?

Regional Agreement Working Group (established 2011) almost final meeting 10/15/14

After three years of spending evenings together discussing the best interests of their individual towns, err, I mean the collective-good-of-education-for-all-children-in-the-four-town-region, you would think the 12 member committee (4 from each town) would be solidly in favor of their plan to expand the Region (currently grades 7-12) all the way down to pre-kindergarten.

At the last Regional Agreement Working Group meeting (10/15) Shutesbury member Michael DeChiara started things off with a stern note of skepticism.  Now one committee member does not make or break a proposed recommendation ... usually.

In this case, however, it could.

Because in order to change the Regional Agreement to allow the educational expansion, all four towns via their Town Meetings have to support the idea -- even if they do not plan to join the expanded Region at inception. 

Now why would Shutesbury rain on this ill-prepared parade and say "no," thus killing the ambitious project?   They are already involved with the Region at the 7-12 level, and could be concerned the expansion will destabilize the entire Region, costing them more financially.

Or the other deal killer expressed by another smaller town is that the newly expanded entity could decide to close an elementary school for the "good of the Region."   And you can bet it would not be an Amherst (who makes up almost 90% of the new Region) elementary school on the chopping block.

At the 10/14 Amherst Regional School Committee Meeting Chair Trevor Baptiste, who is also a member of the RAWG, made it sound like the expanded regionalization report would very soon be coming before the Regional School Committee for their approval, which requires a two thirds vote.

The 10/15 meeting demonstrated they are not close to drafting a final report.  And as of now, no further meetings of the RAWG have been scheduled.  

Who Ya Gonna Call?

AFD Central Station, town center

The staffing problem at Amherst Fire Department -- or more precisely the lack of staffing -- has been well known for a v-e-r-y long time now.

Actually the problem is much bigger than that, including as well police, who often work shoulder to shoulder with firefighter/EMTs at the scene of an emergency.

The Town Manager acknowledges that (sort of) in his FY15 budget submitted to the Select Board last January:

But in his more recent memo (July 7) to the Select Board on "Long Term Staffing Plan Recommendations," there's not even a spark of hope for hiring more firefighters or increasing the minimum on-duty staffing.

One police officer is mentioned as a possible addition -- but only if the proposed regionalization of Emergency Dispatch saves $62,908 to fund that position.  An unlikely scenario. 

   

In 1992 AFD had a minimum of 7 on-duty personnel.  Today, after a doubling of call volume, the department has that same 7 on-duty minimum.

Yes, UMass/Amherst has kicked in an extra $80,000 to fund 4 extra firefighters (2 ambulances) Thursday night thru Sunday morning during the academic year, but even then, with weekend partying, they are still overwhelmed.

A 2003 study done by the town recommended a minimum staffing of ten.  Previously, the Fire Protection Needs Committee issued a report in 1966 recommending minimum staffing of fifteen. 

Back in 2005 the department received a $500,000 SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Act) grant to hire five firefighter/EMTs.  The federal grant program went into effect after 9/11 in an effort to bolster fire departments nationwide to at least minimum standards of protection.

The program has grown from $65 million awarded in 2005 to  $340 million awarded last Fiscal Year. AFD was one of only two departments in Massachusetts to win the grant back in the program's inaugural year, when far less funding was available. 

It's time to think about another SAFER grant application.

The terms have even changed to potentially being less costly to cities and towns, with the main difference being a municipality can lay off the employees at the end of the three years.  Previously a full year (in year 5) of locally funded employment was part of the contract.

Sure it may seem unfair to hire folks for only the duration of a grant, in this case three years.  But as long as you are up front about that during the hiring process, prospective first responders can decide for themselves if it's worth the risk.

The Amherst  Police Department, for instance, just had to lay off a "crime analyst" after two years of state grant funding.  But the department is better for having had her.

Considering interns often work for just for resume enhancement, at least these first responders would be fully paid while gaining valuable experience with one of the best departments (and certainly busiest per capita) in the state. 

In building his FY14 budget the Town Manager relied upon ambulance revenues of $2,195,723.   But because our department is so exceedingly busy (ambulance runs account for about 70% of all FD responses) actual revenues last fiscal year were a whopping $2,533,728 -- an additional, unexpected $338,000.

Or enough to fully fund five new firefighters, grant or no grant.

Equitable Vs Fair

Officials from all 4 towns:  Amherst, Leverett, Pelham, Shutesbury

The Regional Assessment Working Group -- yet another subcommittee formed by the Amherst Pelham Regional School Committee -- met yesterday for the first time to deliberate their charge:  "Analyze historical assessments, investigate assessment alternatives, and make a recommendation of an assessment method going forward."

The "working group" is facilitated by Sean Mangano who stepped into the well worn shoes of former Finance Director Robert Detweiler after he mysteriously disappeared six months ago. 

School spending accounts for the lions share of municipal budgets in all four towns.  The current 50+ year old  Region consists of the Middle and High School but the Regional School Committee also formed a committee almost three years ago to discuss and plan for regionalization at the pre-K through six grade as well.

The criteria for the working group is to come up with a finance method that is fair, predictable, affordable, easy to explain to the voters and one that avoids budget buster spikes for individual towns.  Or what one member referred to as "No nukes."

 

Obviously the equitable thing is for all four towns to pay the same cost per student.  Currently the assessment method takes that into consideration but is also based on a "five year rolling average."  And that seems to generate "a hit" to individual towns about once every five years.

Discussion centered around what is fair vs equitable, or ... how do you provide a "circuit breaker" or "cap" to help  any one overburdened town deal with what could be a budget buster?

Amherst Finance Director Sandy Pooler, obviously a numbers guy, wondered how you define "ability to pay?"  He seemed to  approve of the common sense policy of everybody paying the same cost per student, thinking it might better "resonate" with voters.

The group will meet every other week and expect to have a recommendation for the Amherst Regional School Committee sometime in September.  

Approval will require a simple majority vote by the RSC and then all four Town Meetings must endorse the new assessment method; although after that only three-out-of-four approvals will be required to pass the  Regional Budget.

 

(left to rt) Maria Geryk, Kay Moran, Alisa Brewer, Bernie Kubiak, Andy Steinberg