HAMPDEN/WILBRAHAM –  Superintendent Albert Ganem began the July 18 Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District’s (HWRSD) School Committee meeting with a moment of silence for Ben Ellis, a Minnechaug Regional High School history and social sciences teacher and coach who passed away unexpectedly in June. Minnechaug had grief counselors on-site immediately following news of his death. There is also a link on the school’s website with tips for teachers and parents to help children cope with loss, death, and grief.

The first order of business was to elect a School Committee Chair and Vice-Chair for the new school year. Patrick Kiernan, the previous chair, won the position in a 4-3 vote. Kennedy, who was previously the vice-chair, lost that seat to Sherrill Caruana, also in a 4-3 vote. Michelle Emirzian was the sole nominee for secretary.

Also among the restructuring tasks was naming School Committee members to subcommittees. Kennedy, Bill Bontempi, Maura Ryan will sit on the Finance and Operations Subcommittee, with Kiernan as an alternate member. Caruana, Michelle Emirzian, and Heather Zanetti will be on the Curriculum Subcommittee.

The HWRSD’s proposal for a new roof at the Wilbraham Middle School was approved by the Massachusetts School Building Authority, an independent public authority that handles the state reimbursement and funding process for school construction, renovation, and repair projects.

Howard Barber,  director of Finances and Operations for the HWRSD, said the MSBA only approves about 50 percent of proposals. Kiernan thanked state Sen. Eric Lesser for writing a letter on the behalf of Wilbraham’s proposal.

Barber said that the district was in the first phase of a multiphase process. The next step is to sign off on the town and school district’s intent to comply with the MSBA’s timeline and procedures. The MSBA will then assign a property manager and designee for the schematics design. These steps must be completed within 60 days of the June approval of their application.

At that point, the HWRSD will know the cost of the project as well as how much of that cost will be reimbursed by the MSBA. If everything goes to plan, a vote will be held within two to three months at a special town meeting to appropriate the full amount of funding for the project, and the school district will submit reimbursement requests to the MSBA.

The last time the school district had a project approved by the MSBA, Kiernan said the town “fumbled” the timeline and lost out on the funding for the Soule Road School doors. Now the town is paying 100 percent of the cost for that project. He said there were, “a lot of lessons learned.”

Work on the Wilbraham Middle School roof could begin next summer “at the absolute earliest,” said Barber.

The HWRSD was awarded a $60,000 grant through the 2019 Safer Schools and Communities Initiative Local Equipment and Technology Grant Opportunity from the state’s Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, which made available $7.2 million in grants. The funds are meant to improve safety and security in schools.

The HWRSD will use the grant to acquire equipment, including panic alarms for Mile Tree, Stony Hill, and Soule Road Elementary Schools, Wilbraham Middle School, and Minnechaug Regional High School, as well as the District Central Office. There will be training provided for secretaries and principals to use these alarms.

Also covered by the grant money are keyless locks for workrooms, a point of entry lock for Green Meadows School, and 10 security cameras - four for Green Meadows School and six for Minnechaug, “Stop the Bleed” tourniquet kits, new ID badge and “go-bucket” supplies, and concrete barriers to deter a vehicle breach of the main doors.

Mary Ellen Glover spoke during the public comment period about the school ratings that were released in June. She said that there had been no “evident” focus on ratings since they were released in the spring. Minnechaug Regional High School ranked 209 out of 342 high schools in a U.S. News and World Report.

Glover called for “a full, critical analysis,” of the curriculum. She said the curriculum is disjointed with students taking sequential classes, such as Algebra I and Algebra II, separated by semesters. She also criticized the block scheduling and said you can’t expect teens to pay attention for 85 minutes at a time.

“We need to raise our standards,” said Glover.

Another resident spoke during the comment period. She said morale is at an all-time low and that the system is over-enrolled. The resident talked about the breakdown in contract negotiations between the HWRSD and the teachers’ union, the Hampden-Wilbraham Education Association. There are “serious ramifications when teachers don't have a contract,” she said. including fear for their jobs.

“It's time for everybody to come together,” the resident said.

Ganem responded by saying that all the teachers and administrators work hard to make sure they’re doing their best for the students. He compared the evolution in the way school districts educate to the way doctors are constantly learning new and better ways to heal people.

The resident also expressed concern with the downsizing of the library at Stony Hill Elementary School. Caruana clarified that the library at Stony Hill no longer has a computer lab because students now have Chromebooks. The area that had housed the computer lab will now be used for instruction. She said they still have a library and resource desk.

“It will be a library, a fully functioning library,” Caruana assured the resident.

The Committee discussed the addition of a talented and gifted program. Caruana said they were going to hire extra teachers to pull students out of class or if resources would be given to those students within their regular class setting. Either way,  Caruana said, it needs funding.

Zanetti said she was concerned about the validity and impact of a gifted and talented program

“Our efforts and funding should be dedicated to increasing the quality of education for all our students,” Zanetti said. She recommended the district look into “Universal Design,” a program that includes flexible ways for students to access materials.

 “We've been talking about it for a year,” Kennedy said to Ganem. “When is your administration going to say ‘this is something we want.’”