BUCKLAND — With at least 50 people present, the members of Mohawk’s BEST (Building Education Sustainability and Trust) Committee laid out recommendations they hope will save the district at least $1.1 million per year through a gradual phase-in of school consolidations and district changes.
BEST Chairwoman Martha Thurber stressed that nothing will happen without unanimous consent of all eight Mohawk towns. Thurber and other presenters pointed out that reducing operating costs alone will not solve the district’s financial problems. She said the district needs to increase its revenues as well as cut costs to be financially viable.
After an enrollment peak of 1,698 students in 1998, Mohawk’s K to 12 enrollment has dropped about 45 percent, with 948 students now in its six schools. However, costs have gone up because state Chapter 70 aid has plateaued. In 1998, the district got $5.9 million in state education aid — almost the same amount of aid it got this year.
All four elementary schools have one class for each grade, and cannot eliminate a teacher when the enrollment declines for that grade. At Heath Elementary School, for instance, there are now 29 students, with seven students in a combined Grade 4 to 6 classroom. In 2001, Heath had 126 students.
“We’re all in this together; healthy towns require a healthy school district,” said Thurber. “Nothing will be implemented without unanimous consent of all towns. The status quo is unacceptable; the only outcome would be cuts to programs.”
The first phase will be to assist the Heath Education Initiative Task Force to find an alternative for their children’s education that would enable the town to close the Heath Elementary School, saving about $500,000 per year. One recommendation the Heath group is considering is to remain a K to 12 Mohawk member town, but tuition its elementary students to either Hawlemont or to Rowe. The BEST group is hoping Heath’s transition could be accomplished by September 2017.
The second phase, targeted for September 2018, would be to move the district’s sixth-grade students to Mohawk, where they would transition into the middle school. Mohawk teachers especially thought this is a good idea because it would engage the children earlier in some of the arts, music, science and technology programs offered there.
Moving sixth-graders to Mohawk would also free up classroom space at Buckland Shelburne Elementary and Sanderson Academy for phase 3: closing Colrain Central School and bringing those students to Buckland Shelburne Elementary. Buckland Shelburne Elementary and Sanderson Academy would become Mohawk’s only elementary schools. Consolidating operations and closing Colrain Central would result in saving another $600,000.
The final step, phase 4, may never happen, said Thurber, but the committee plans to study the option: That is to build an elementary school or building wing that could house all the district’s elementary students in one building — to centralize all levels of educational programming in a single location. This would allow the district to operate at a higher level of efficiency and provide greater opportunities for collaborative programs. The BEST Committee hopes to complete a feasibility study about the costs, advantages and disadvantages of this idea by December 2017.
After the presentation, a Heath school parent expressed concern that her kindergartner would be spending 45 minutes to an hour each way on a school bus if the district elementary students were sent to the Mohawk campus.
Polly Bartlett of Buckland pointed out that the Hawlemont district has been able to attract more students this year through its agriculture program. She wondered if closing and reconfiguring the Mohawk elementary schools would prompt more Mohawk children to School Choice to Hawlemont.
“It’s a very painful process for a town to lose its school,” said Mick Comstock. He suggested it would be better for transitioning students if it could be viewed as “creating a new school together” rather than the children from one town coming to another school, trying to “fit in.”
Jennifer Martin asked how big the classes will be after this consolidation. Superintendent Michael Buoniconti said in almost all cases, class sizes aren’t going to exceed 20.