NORTHFIELD — A joint meeting of the finance committees and selectboards of the four towns of the Pioneer Valley Regional School District is scheduled for Monday at 6:30 p.m. at Northfield Town Hall.
The meeting will be the second such joint meeting since the summer, when state officials urged the towns to work more closely with the school district, particularly in financial planning.
The agenda for Monday mostly comprises items related to the schools’ finances, along with discussions on sharing municipal services and a county-wide emergency communications system.
The meeting will include a presentation by Rick Kingsley, the financial overseer that the district is required to have per the special legislation that allows it to borrow money to cover its $450,000 deficit.
A recently released study of possibilities for merging the Pioneer district with Gill-Montague Regional School District will be discussed by HEART Committee (Honest Education and Retaining Trust) members Julia Blythe, also of the Northfield Selectboard, and Ginger Robinson, also of the Leyden Finance Committee.
The question of how capital costs will be handled if the district closes elementary schools will also be discussed. In Leyden in Warwick there has been some debate about whether the school district should pay the maintenance costs on the elementary school buildings if either of the schools is closed. The HEART Committee has also discussed the issue, but agreed that ultimately is should be determined by town officials.