Creating a unified voice when it comes to speaking up for rural school districts should be unnecessary here in Massachusetts, a state where education is seen as such a priority.
Yet as a number of districts in western Massachusetts know all too well, getting the state to hear about the issues facing small schools and districts, let alone understand them, can be extremely frustrating.
Mohawk Trail Regional School District Superintendent Michael Buoniconti understands this communication gap all too well. And he thinks that has to change. That’s why he has begun to push for the formation of a Massachusetts Rural Schools Association.
“Some (superintendents) are in charge of three, even four, small districts. We’re all dealing with flat state aid and small class sizes. Mohawk is not unique in this — and in finding ways to survive.
Considering that Buoniconti has invited 45 superintendents from 65 school districts in the state — those with either fewer than 1,000 students or serving towns where there are fewer than 10 students per square mile — to meet, it’s clear there is probably plenty of common ground, and we suspect, a need to be heard. Put bluntly, he said, “divided, we have very little influence.”
And money is often tied to that influence.
Part of what Buoniconti sees the association advocating for is “Sparsity Aid” for rural districts. It’s an avenue for financial aid that has proven helpful in saving rural school districts in Wisconsin, for example. Districts there that meet certain criteria are provided $300 per student.
“The necessity of providing quality instructional and educational services to small numbers of students presents a fiscal challenge to our rural school districts,” said Wisconsin State Superintendent Tony Evers last year. “This aid supports these schools, which are so often the backbone of their community.”
That’s certainly true in our region. Sparsity Aid would, if the Legislature buys into the idea, offer not just more money but recognition that schools are part of the foundation of the community and should be supported.
But this possible aid and other possible improvements in how the state relates to its most rural schools won’t become a reality unless lawmakers and the governor’s office hear a loud and unified group.
It’s time to speak as one.