HAMPDEN – The Hampden and Wilbraham Boards of Selectmen met April 8 to discuss the future path regarding a vote to amend a regional schools agreement between both towns, but no final decision was made.

An amendment to the regional schools agreement is required in order to create a unified middle school, which would address the school district’s ongoing decline in enrollment on a short-term basis. Thornton W. Burgess Middle School (TWB) would likely close as a result.

The Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School Committee previously voted unanimously at its March 23 meeting to delay Town Meeting votes about the regional agreement until the fall. The committee’s decision was based on a high level of correspondence from Hampden residents opposed to the regional agreement amendment.

Hampden Board of Selectmen Chair Vincent Villamaino said he doesn’t see how the vote in his town could be approved due to the number of letters his board has received against the initiative.

“It’s abundantly clear to me that some of the residents in town are dead set against this,” he noted. “[TWB] is a part of our heritage and what Hampden’s all about – it’s 5,100 people – and they like that. They like our two schools and we do a good job taking care of our two schools and I’m confused how we’re going to do this because nothing is etched in stone right now.”

Hampden Selectman Norm Charest said a major concern he’s heard from residents about the middle school unification effort is that it would take away from Hampden’s character.

“They’re also very concerned about making sure that our kids do get a good education and continues to be the quality education that it’s been in the past,” he added. “It’s kind of a balancing act of getting both of those things accomplished.”

Educational programs have been reduced at TWB in recent years and several teachers are teaching students outside of their certifications, according to Wilbraham Board of Selectman Chair Robert Boilard.

Charest said residents are not taking the position of maintaining a “poor education” in order to keep students at TWB.

“I’m not sure that the solution that was proposed, at least in my opinion, accomplishes both of those things for the residents,” he noted. “Maybe [there’s] a solution that we haven’t thought of yet?”

He added both communities could assess how attached they are to the middle school model.

“What other [models] are out there and are they as good and as effective as [the middle school model] is?” Charest asked. “That’s the way I would approach it – that’s just one thought on that.”

Boilard said he believes closing TWB is an emotional battle that the middle school unification effort faces.

“How do we make this right for the kids educationally, but also somehow do something with Thornton Burgess to make it right with the residents of Hampden? How do we do that? That’s the crux of the whole thing. In essence, we have to be honest, could we do both? Could we achieve both?”

He continued, “As far as building a new school, I want to go on the record right now – I am not for building a new school any way at all.”

Boilard said debt for constructing a new Minnechaug Regional High School has yet to be completely paid off and both communities are currently building new police stations.

Wilbraham Selectman Robert Russell said the towns can’t “spend their way out” of solving the decline in enrollment issue.

He added approximately 315 students graduated from Minnechaug last year and 185 students enrolled in the kindergarten program.

“That’s jaw dropping and we have to do something,” Russell said. “There’s going to have to be consequences if we don’t. I think we owe it to the kids to find that solution.”

Russell also asked whether there would be interest in hosting Special Town Meetings over the summer or fall to vote on the regional agreement amendment.

“My concern is I don’t want to put it off one more year,” he added.

Villamaino, who stated he is against the middle school unification plan, agreed the vote should not be delayed for a year.

Both boards agreed to host another meeting in the near future to discuss the issue further, but did not confirm a date. The meeting would take place in Wilbraham.

Boilard said he hopes dialogue would continue between both communities, noting, “We can’t turn into East Longmeadow and dive over the tables.”

In related business, Superintendent of Schools M. Martin O’Shea said prior to the joint selectmen’s meeting the School Committee agreed to submit statements of interest (SOI) to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) for TWB and Wilbraham Middle School. 

He added the SOIs do not request renovations or funding for a new school – if the SOIs were accepted comprehensive studies would be completed by the MSBA to explore the best options for both schools.

“It’s a way for us to further explore unification and it’s a way to begin to understand how the towns might address the facility needs of buildings, which are each close to 50 years old,” O’Shea said. “And neither of which has experienced a renovation of any kind.”

If the MSBA were to approve one or more of the SOIs, it could take more than a decade before a new or renovated school would be built, he noted.

“The district is making no commitment by submitting a statement of interest,” he added. “It’s simply a way to begin to understand what the solutions might be far down the road because we know that to partner with the state on your facility needs takes a lot of time and requires many years of study and consideration.”

O’Shea said last year approximately 15 out of 18 schools in the Commonwealth that submitted SOIs to the MSBA were approved for its building program.

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