School Committee pumps brakes on school unification

March 24, 2016 | Chris Goudreau
cgoudreau@thereminder.com

School Committee Chair Peter Salerno advocated for delaying votes in Hampden and Wilbraham to amend a regional agreement, which would allow for a unified middle school, due to the potential risk of Hampden voters not accepting the amendment.
Reminder Publications photo by Chris Goudreau

WILBRAHAM – The decision to unify Wilbraham Middle School (WMS) and Thornton W. Burgess (TWB) has been delayed until the fall after an unanimous School Committee vote on March 23.

The middle school unification plan hinges on amending a regional agreement between Hampden and Wilbraham, which is anticipated to come before Town Meeting voters this fall. The school district is facing a decline in enrollment at the middle school level, which is a driving force behind the proposed unification.

School Committee Chair Peter Salerno said Hampden residents have expressed “dissatisfaction” with the short term plan to close TWB and move students and staff at the school to WMS, which was the basis for the decision to delay Town Meeting votes to amend the regional agreement.

The long-term goal is to partner with the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) to create a new unified middle school or renovate an existing middle school.

Middle School Task Force (MSTF) Co-Chair Sandra Sheehan said the task force recommended moving the initiative forward “expeditiously” and she was disappointed with the process being delayed.

The regional agreement must be amended before the district could submit a statement of interest to the MSBA?for a unified middle school.

Salerno, who brought up the idea to delay the process, said he believes a negative Hampden vote to amend the regional agreement could potentially jeopardize MSBA funding.

The MSBA typically has a 50 percent or more reimbursement rate.

“My worry is that disappointment could be temporary or it could be permanent,” Salerno said. “If [the] MSBA chooses to listen to the negative vote against the proposal, that could be a long-term issue. [Residents] out there have really not thought about it.”

School Committee Vice Chair and MSTF member Lisa Morace said she’s worried that the delay is “asking our teachers to do more with less.”
    She added, “We are asking, for example, our music teacher [at TWB] to teach art. We are asking to not have a band anymore. He’s teaching general music. He’s teaching chorus and art. We have a gym teacher [at TWB] whose teaching geography. We have a lot of teachers teaching out of their certification. How long are we going to hold on to these excellent teachers, who we love?”

School Committee member Lena Buteau expressed apologies about the delay to students and parents who will be going through the middle schools in the next two to three years.

School Committee member William Bontempi, who made the motion, said before he was elected to the committee he thought his fellow members were “inept who just don’t know how to do things.”

He noted, “What ends up happening and you get into the mix, you realize you’re the one being myopic and everybody else has a really broad view of what’s happening. This decision is a very good illustration of that.”

Bontempi said at least 30 Hampden residents expressed dissatisfaction with the middle school unification.

“[Among residents], mostly there’s ignorance, fear, [and] intimidation,” he explained. “There is very little in here that talks to the realities of the education of kids in our school district.”

He added this year’s budget shortfall has ballooned from more than $500,000 to approximately $879,000. He urged residents who voiced concern about the middle school unification to also send emails to local legislators advocating for more Chapter 71 transportation funding.

Bontempi described the district’s Chapter 71 revenue stream as “chronic underfunding.”

In other business, there will be significant turnover for the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District’s (HWRSD) administrative team this coming school year.

Superintendent of Schools M. Martin O’Shea, who is leaving for a similar position in Longmeadow, stated in a letter to the HWRSD community Acting Director of Curriculum and Instruction Steve Hale will return as principal of Minnechaug Regional High School.

There will also be veteran HWRSD administration staff retiring, he noted. WMS Principal Noel Pixley is set to retire in December and Green Meadows Elementary School Principal Deb Thompson is planning her retirement for October.

O’Shea said the district would advertise and initiate a search for director of curriculum and instruction and for a new Green Meadows principal.  

TWB Principal Peter Dufresne will be reassigned as WMS principal effective July 1, he noted. Pixley previously served as TWB’s principal.

“Meanwhile, Mrs. Amy Bostian, who currently serves as a half-time assistant principal at Thornton W. Burgess Middle School, will become principal of TWB effective July 1, 2016,” O’Shea said. “She is ready for the challenges of leading her own learning community and will be supported and mentored by Mr. Pixley, who will also take on special projects relating to middle school programming.  I am certain that Mr. Dufresne, Mr. Pixley and Mrs. Bostian will work collaboratively and effectively in the best interests of our HWRSD middle school students.”

John Derosia and Nicole Smith, who both formerly served as Minnechaug assistant principals, will be designated as associate principals effective July 1 as well, O’Shea said.

“This designation is an acknowledgment of their excellent record of leadership and service to Minnechaug and a recognition of the collaborative administrative structure that exists at [Minnechaug],” he added.

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