Sadly, this is just the latest example of the lies and distortions that the small group of opponents of a well-planned project that will benefit every single taxpayer in Stockbridge will go to with their opposition.
It was that kind of night. Indeed, the atmosphere was tense enough that two Sheffield police officers were called to observe the school committee meeting lest things get out of control.
The district has been battered by challenges and tragedies over the last few years, including declining enrollments that have caused Southern Berkshire to consider consolidating with the Berkshire Hills Regional School District in Great Barrington.
The Berkshire Hills Regional School Committee voted unanimously to send a letter to Southern Berkshire and its five member towns asking to establish a planning group to explore consolidation for grades 9-12
At last Thursday’s school committee meeting, Rich Dohoney of Great Barrington proposed that Berkshire Hills issue a written request to its member towns, along with the Southern Berkshire Regional School District and its own member towns, to form a planning board "for the purpose of either forming, or consolidating into, a regional high school district to serve grades 9-12."
Berkshire Hills School Committee member Rich Dohoney said he is approached by South County residents all the time and the most common question he hears is why Berkshire Hills isn't trying to merge with Southern Berkshire.
The vote follows a contentious meeting earlier this month in which the Sheffield members of the school committee had refused to appoint Bruno after interim member Tim Schroepfer had withdrawn his name from consideration.
It’s been a tumultuous last few weeks that included a bomb scare, an illegal vote by the school committee, a school committee walking out of a meeting and a vow by the town of Egremont to withhold hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments to the five-town regional school district.
For a variety of technical reasons, four Sheffield candidates were on the ballot for three seats. But voters were instructed to "vote for not more than two,” and those two with the most support were automatically re-elected.
Earlier in the meeting, there had been other surprises: Sears and Chairperson Bonnie Silvers, both of Sheffield, had been ousted from their leadership positions on the committee. Adding to the committee's woes was that the vote was taken in open session, but by use of a secret ballot -- a clear violation of the state's Open Meeting Laws.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced last week that e-cigarette use has increased almost 80 percent among high schoolers and 50 percent among middle schoolers since last year.
In a letter to the editor David Hastings writes: “Serving as the Superintendent, I found both Bonnie and Dennis to be very demanding and nearly always right, making sure that our children got only the best.”
It does appear that a generational challenge is in the offing for the Nov. 6 elections. A flyer distributed throughout the district refers to a "clean slate for SBRSD school committee" and flatly states that "the candidates support the right of all the towns to have their elementary schools."
The driving force behind regional school reform is enrollments, which are dropping at an alarming pace. Berkshire County school districts saw enrollment losses of 22 percent between 2000 and 2015.
