Great Barrington — A bouquet of wildflowers sat at John Krahm’s place on the Berkshire Hills Regional School District School Committee during last Thursday night’s (September 18) meeting in the library of Monument Mountain Regional High School. Krahm, who had died last Sunday at his home in West Stockbridge, was a 6-year committee member, and a beloved educator in two school communities.(To view his obituary, click here.)
“A thoughtful, hard worker,” said committee chair Stephen Bannon.
Krahm’s death wasn’t the only blow to the Berkshire Hills community; Monument Principal Marianne Young’s sister also died last week.
Difficult timing for the committee, as the district claws its way out of technology problems, and tries to explain the necessity of a high school renovation project to tax-weary Great Barrington voters amid a landscape studded with stealth opposition campaigns, and what some say are weapons of mass distraction.
The committee formally, unanimously approved placement of the regional high school renovation project question on the ballot, in preparation for the general election on November 4.
Last fall, Great Barrington voters shot down the original, $56 million renovation plan. The district shaved off as much as possible from the project, and came back to voters with a $51 million plan the district says will ultimately cost less than doing piecemeal repairs to the deteriorating building and its infrastructure.
School Committee members, from left, David Adler, Richard Bradway, and Rich Dohoney.
The actual language on the ballot will be decided by the Massachusetts School Buildings Association (MSBA). The language, if it approximates what the committee voted to place on the ballot, is lengthy and complex, a complaint heard about last year’s ballot, as well. The language, however, has not been finalized, said district Superintendent Peter Dillon, but will be driven by the MSBA, and must meet with approval by bond counsel and legal counsel, he added, though “we don’t really have any latitude to change it (the language).”
Committee vice-chair, and Education/Technology subcommittee chair Richard Bradway worried about the potential for voter confusion. He said it was unfortunate that there were so many “obstacles to understanding the ballot.”
The district, however, is waging a campaign to help residents understand the scope of the project — and the ballot — before they hit the voting booth. Superintendent Dillon said there had been three productive forums held by the renovation Steering Committee. Last Tuesday’s session at the Senior Center had been recorded, he said. (Click here for a video recording of information session at the Senior Center.)
It is still unclear whether the renovation question will have a separate ballot, or be included on the general election ballot .
Steering committee chair Karen Smith gave an update on the committee’s work. Between now and November 4, the renovation outreach committee will make the final push to explain the district’s position: a “yes” vote is good for the kids and the wallet.
Outreach will be hard at work; the committee has plans for 10 neighborhood coffee-klatch-type events to explain the project to voters. Monumentmatters.org is home base on the web, and the site links to a Facebook page that now has 547 likes, said Smith.
Smith also announced that outreach will host a training session for ambassadors of the project on September 30, at Crissey Farm, at 7 p.m.
But Smith got tough with the committee, imploring them not to be passive with outreach. “We need everybody on…to make sure that people (voters) have the facts,” she advised.
“For John,” said committee member Kristin Piasecki, who had brought the flowers in memory of Krahm.
“Can we step it all up now?” said Smith, who likened her role as renovation committee chair to an O’Hare air traffic controller. “The faculty, the staff, the school committee, I implore you. You need to get in the game,” she said.
Smith noted that even Great Barrington Selectman Ed Abrahams “has come out in support” of the project. Indeed, Abrahams has grown quite vocal in favor of the renovation on the Facebook page “For A Better Monument.” That page was created by Great Barrington resident David Long, who has been outspoken in questioning the district’s plans.
“People keep thinking that if we vote ‘no’ our taxes won’t go up,” said Smith, referring to the unavoidable repairs to the building in the near future, and echoing Abrahams’ refrain. Taxes, they say, are going up either way.
That’s because the district and its facilities manager say the school will need fixing regardless. And because the MSBA won’t reimburse significantly in a piecemeal repair scenario — and because of the unpredictability of inflation — residents will have heftier price tag. Twenty to 30-percent heftier, said Smith, than a full renovation.
But Great Barrington residents have trouble believing it, and have expressed their doubts from editorial pages to town coffee shops. Those who’ve worked to study and plan for the school’s needs are beside themselves over what they see as an epidemic of contagious misperceptions and inaccuracies.
“I’ve read some of the letters to the editor,” said Richard Bradway. “Playing on fears with dubious facts or fiction is far worse than the reality.”
But Smith hadn’t yet loosened her grip on the committee: “I trust the people who have done the work over the last 6 years,” she said of the high school building committee. “You need to come out in support of all those who did this work. I implore you. I can’t ask any more nicely.”
Yet it is clear that the renovation re-vote is, indeed, threaded through the minds of the committee. Superintendent Dillon gave an update about the new Southern Berkshire Shared Services Project, in which six Berkshire districts, including Berkshire Hills, are seeking a $300,000 grant for sharing resources to better educate students.
School Committee Chair Bannon was quick to say the project “was not a replacement for the renovation of this building (Monument).” Bannon said he understood why people might “jump to that conclusion,” but that “the next step is not regionalization.”
A number of opponents of the Monument renovation project have suggested regionalization with other nearby districts as an alternative.
“Shared services (project) is a collaboration,” said Bannon. “Even Smitty (State Rep.William Pignatelli) has said that any regionalization is 10 years away, and this building is 50 years old. We need to be very clear.”
From there it was on to technology, a thorn in the district’s side since a perfect storm of Internet failures downed its websites last summer. The situation is close to being completely reversed; Ed/tech subcommittee chair Bradway and his tech team, including volunteers, have built engaging interactive sites, with about 40-percent of all content up. Each school site can be accessed on its own, or from the district’s site.
BHRSD School Committee Chair Stephen Bannon, right, with Superintendent Peter Dillon.
Policy subcommittee chair Frederick Clark announced that committee chair Bannon was awarded a “Lifetime Achievement” award by Massachusetts Association of School Committees. It is a “rare” award, said Clark, and “quite prestigious.” Clark said he couldn’t “think of anyone else who deserves it more.” Bannon has spent 17 years on the Berkshire Hills school committee, and has been chairman for 15.
“My love for this district is obvious,” said Bannon, who added that he was “surprised,” and that it is all for “the children of this district.”
In other committee business, David Adler is now head of the buildings and grounds subcommittee.
Frederick Clark resigned from the high school building committee.
And it was decided by the committee – as vehemently advocated by both David Adler and Richard Dohoney — that the district would not entertain the creation of policy that would require fingerprinting of parent school volunteers, as is required for staff –only standard background checks.
“No way will I vote for it,” said Dohoney of fingerprinting. “If this is what we need to protect our kids, then it’s a failure of the administration.”
There is a finance subcommittee meeting slated for September 24 at 5:30 p.m.
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