Voters in Hawley and Charlemont face a tough decision come Town Meeting time this May. If you read the Recorder or listen to the town scuttlebutt by email, social media or face to face with neighbors, you know that Hawlemont and its School Committee have had high visibility in the press lately.
The School Committee has struggled for more than a year with how to provide central office services to Hawlemont, when the current two district agreement (2-D) expires in June. The Mohawk Trail Regional School District (MTRSD) and Hawlemont Regional School District (HRSD) have shared central office services for as long as anyone can remember. Current conflicts between the two school committees have prompted MTRSD to be unwilling to renew a 2-D agreement.
For perspective, in 1954, HRSD was the first regional school to be created in the state. MTRSD came into existence in the late 1960s. Central office services have been shared since then. Central office includes the superintendent, business manager, special education director, legal counsel, curriculum director, bookkeeping and a host of other functions. For a small school these functions would be a huge financial challenge.
Complicating matters, the Hawlemont School Committee has received votes of no confidence from the Charlemont Selectboard, Charlemont Finance Committee, Hawley Finance Committee and Hawlemont teachers’ union. Community members have asked the Hawlemont School Committee members to resign, so a new committee can be elected in May to work with MTRSD to retain the 2-D agreement. This request has been supported by Hussain Hamdan, the School Committee chair, as well.
In addition to School Committee problems there are budget issues. Heath’s students, who were being tuitioned into Hawlemont recently, will return to MTRSD’s Colrain school. That leaves an income shortfall for FY’23 of about $300,000. Therefore the initial budget proposal for FY23 would add $400,000 to the taxpayers for level services only. The School Committee is proposing to cut that by about $250,000. Given the serious financial challenges, the effects of the pandemic, recent concerns over discipline, talk of school closure, and controversy surrounding leadership , it is no surprise that morale is low.
At election time, voters will be faced with a difficult situation. Their decision will affect the future of Hawlemont. If funding must be cut every year, the quality of the education that can be delivered may suffer. The wisest educational decision might well be to tuition Hawlemont’s students into MTRSD, move the Hay program to an MTRSD elementary school and close Hawlemont. It has been requested by Charlemont leaders and would be a sound financial choice for the towns. That decision will be up to the voters. Middle and high school students from both towns are already attending MTRSD. Elementary students from the six other towns are already part of MTRSD.
The Hawlemont School Committee will host a public forum on March 22 from 5:30 to 7 pm. It will be facilitated by Glenn Koocher, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. The forum will be held at Hawlemont, online and by phone. It will be an opportunity for the community to hear from the school committee, from the candidates who are running for vacant school committee seats, and from community members and town officials who need to determine: Will there be change, or will the status quo be maintained?
I encourage you to join in and be educated about the issues and decisions that will face you, the voters, at this year’s annual town meetings and elections in May. Make your voices heard.
To learn more, contact Amber Tulloch, principal at Hawlemont. For a list of scheduled school committee meetings and information packets provided to school committee members, go to https://bit.ly/3JmewwA online. Look for the next date in the future as they are not chronological.
Kirby Thwing lives in Hawley.