In the spirit of reflection and self-examination, herein lies The Edge's second annual Great Barrington year in review. It includes some select stories from other South County towns as well, along with embedded links to Edge stories for more information.
Proposals for how to use the cannabis revenue windfall will be discussed by the selectboard and the finance committee in the upcoming deliberations for next year's budget, with voters having the final say on how to spend free cash at the annual town meeting in May.
School committee members noted that the driving force behind the merger should be greater opportunity for students and a desire "to keep education strong" in the two districts amid declining enrollments.
"From where I'm standing, it's clear that we don't have enough information. One of the worries everyone has is the community is going to be split on this." --Monument Next Steps member Joshua Shapiro
The devil, however, was in the details, as panelists debated the pros and cons of building a brand-new new school or stripping the old one down to its core, constructing an addition and adding sprinkler systems and new infrastructure.
If the Berkshire Hills Regional School District could increase the number of towns that are formally members of the district, it could be leveraged to have a significant effect on the reimbursement rate for a potential project from the Massachusetts School Building Authority.
A common complaint among employees of the district and their families was that district officials did not adequately consult with faculty and staff about what was needed in terms of design and the accommodation of innovative curriculum, for example.
The largest incentive (up to 6 additional percentage points) to increase state reimbursement lies in the formation of a new school district as part of the building project. That incentive might resonate with South County residents because of declining enrollments.
Monument Valley Regional Middle School was selected for the renaming rather than a second try at Muddy Brook Elementary due, in part, to the fact that Du Bois' life is actually taught in the middle school curriculum.
The challenge for the state's 351 cities and towns is to revamp their zoning regulations so that they're not caught flat-footed by applications from cannabis retailers and manufacturers.
Berkshire Hills’ director of operations Steven Soule will once again assess the condition of 50-year-old Monument Mountain Regional High School and draft the statement, which will explain a number of deficiencies including 'building condition, access, health and safety, as well as deficiencies for instructional programs, especially science and career and technical facilities.'
Tabakin asked the school committee to delay its vote to approve or reject the proposed budget because she would like the school committee to meet first with Great Barrington’s selectmen and finance committee.
Great Barrington's assessment will rise a projected 6.7 percent to about $16.4 million, in part because of an increase in the town's state-mandated minimum local contribution, which determines a minimum each town should pay based on the wealth of the community.
The vote by Berkshire Health Group, the school district's joint health insurance-purchasing entity, to keep rates flat for next year surprised district officials, but they're not complaining.
Monument Next Steps includes 22 members and will be modeled after the Regional Agreement Amendment Committee, which met several times over the course of the last year in a successful effort to change the district agreement's formula for taxing the district's member towns to pay for its operations and capital expenses.
