Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 2/24/16
Meeting Opened at: 7pm
Select Board Members Present: Scott Jenssen, Chairperson, Kenn Basler and Steve Weisz
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
The Board called this meeting to discuss with the citizens of Monterey how they would like to see the Board move forward with regards to the Monterey School. The Board discussed that there is a steady decrease district wide in enrollment. Last year the Monterey School program was put on hiatus for 1 year with the understanding that the School Committee was to come up with a plan/program for the 2016-17 year which they have determined isn’t viable unless a minimum of 6 children sign up for Monterey at which time they will staff it.
The school budget represents approximately 30% of our town budget (their budget is not yet finalized).
Maryellen Brown stated that she wants the entire kindergarten program to be placed in Monterey as it used to be. She stated that she hoped that the pre-k budget numbers are not being rolled into the proposed school budget for the towns to absorb because we are not a pre k-12 district we are a k-12 (it was later confirmed that the pre-k program costs are a part of the budget and that tuition is no longer charged). It was agreed that the School Committee appears to be looking at the numbers based on the town rather than based on the entire district; if the school announced that the kindergarten program was going to be in Monterey then there would be no choice as to which location you wanted to send your child to.
The current condition of the building was discussed and the work that will be necessary to make the building functional for the 2016-17 school year. There is currently $10,000 from Monterey and $10,000 from the district to make these repairs.
Maria Rundle, School Committee Representative for Monterey stated that there are currently a total of 7 kids that are early k/k classroom eligible. Maria has spoken with the parents of these children; 1 is already enrolled in the pre k program in New Marlborough and wants to stay there. The remaining 6 are concerned about over-crowding, having to bus kindergarteners to Sheffield. Their hopes would be that their children could continue with Ms. Webster who is currently teaching in New Marlborough.
Barbara Swann felt it important to note that based on her research the national birthrate is going up. She feels that should Monterey get the proposed fiber for high speed internet our numbers of children should increase and we shouldn’t make predictions on the current reality. She suggested taking the districts money and setting up an independent program and sue the district to leave.
The district is interested in utilizing the building for something other than a kindergarten program but nothing definitive has been discussed.
Jon Sylbert inquired of Maria about the district’s strategic plan. Maria stated that the vision for the district is to work collectively with the county which is projected to have enrollment decreases (40%) which will be difficult for these rural towns to take on and challenges the sustainability of the quality of education in our county. The state is threatening if the district can’t come up with solutions on their own they will do it for us. She also noted that we are not in the same boat as Egremont as they are working with the district on a strategic plan whereas Monterey is floundering in this area. Maria took exception with people saying that the school committee isn’t promoting a program in Monterey and listed several examples of where they have gone above and beyond policy
to allow children to sign up for Monterey.
Susan Bacheldor, resident of Egremont and property owner in Monterey reported that one of the first hurdles was getting the town to recognize the historical importance of the building that the school program is housed in and whether or not the community wants to continue to use it for any use. Monterey needs to determine the value of the property now as a school and going forward and what needs to be done to get the building in shape.
As an aside the current Superintendent will be retiring in November and Maria Rundle our School Committee Rep will not be seeking re-election in November.
It was suggested by Jon Sylbert that a long term vision for the school committee/district should include combining our high school with Berkshire Hills, get rid of the Sheffield campus and create 2 or 3 small building in our district to cover k – 8.
The Board will move forward with looking at the building and ways to utilize it. A formal request will be made to the school to place a program in the Monterey School for the 2016-17 academic year.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 8:45pm
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Administrative Assistant
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
Town Clerk
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