WARWICK — The Warwick Selectboard is holding an informational hearing about the proposed conversion of Warwick Community School to a Horace Mann II Conversion School on Monday.
The hearing will start at 7 p.m. at Warwick Community School.
“We are planning on answering the community’s questions and we have extended the invitation to the School Committee and superintendent as well,” Warwick Education Committee Chair Adam Holloway said.
The informational hearing will be held in Warwick, but all members of the Pioneer Valley Regional School District are invited to attend.
“We cannot force anyone to attend or learn about our proposal. However, our proposal aligns perfectly with the newly-stated interests of the governor and state board of education,” Holloway said.
The School Committee will not be asked to make a final decision on the proposal until December, when it will need to sign a memorandum of understanding regarding the relationship between the school and the district. According to Vice Chair of the Warwick Education Committee Tom Wyatt, this first stage does not commit the district to anything yet. Agreements and terms would be worked out in the second stage of the application process.
“We have three months to work on this and see if there’s an agreement that is a win-win,” Holloway said.
The Education Committee will submit its current conversion plans to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) for feedback this month, with a deadline of Nov. 1. According to Holloway, the Education Committee has requested the School Committee’s Oct. 10 meeting include a vote on the topic. DESE will give its decision in mid-November.
“We hope the School Committee members can attend,” Holloway said of Monday’s hearing. “The School Committee and the public deserve to hear what we are doing so they can make an informed decision.”
According to Holloway, some key aspects of the school’s basic concept that will be reviewed during the informational hearing include:
■Warwick’s school would stay in the Pioneer school district, and Warwick would continue to pay its assessment as a member town.
■Orange students would continue to be accepted via school choice.
■Warwick’s elementary school would have its own governing board, so the school would need less assistance from the central office and School Committee.
■The school would submit its budget in April as part of the budget process (no differently than what happens now), and Warwick schoolchildren could not cost $0.01 more than any other Pioneer school district child.
■If the conversion is approved, DESE will give no less than $500,000 for start-up costs, and some can go to the central office and, depending on interests of other elementary towns, perhaps to other elementary schools.
The Pioneer School Committee meeting on Thursday will be held at the Warwick Community School at 7 p.m.
Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 264.