In his letter to the editor Great Barrington Selectboard member Ed Abrahams writes: “On Monday night, Stockbridge didn't say 'What's best for us?' You said, 'What's best for ALL OF US?' How rare is that today?"
“There is no better way to ensure a better future for our community, state and country than to invest in education. What we are saying is that we believe in education for all the children, not just in our town but in the district. Education has longevity”
---Stockbridge resident Sarah Horne, speaking at the Annual Town Meeting
In his letter to the editor, Gary Pitney writes: "The proposed amendment to the existing agreement between the three towns of Great Barrington, Stockbridge, and West Stockbridge would place an unfair financial burden on Stockbridge."
In his letter to the editor, Rich Bradway of Stockbridge writes: “I look at this change as an investment in our community’s future, our town’s future. Our town has lost a lot of families. Our schools are the best way to encourage new families to move back into the area.”
"I just wanted to get my viewpoint out. I believe it'll raise my taxes — maybe not immediately — but it'll happen."
-- Wilson Wright of Stockbridge, owner of the truck and sign urging voters to reject an amended regional school district pact
Unfortunately for Great Barrington taxpayers, the proposed BHRSD budget calls for an increase in the town's assessment of almost 6 percent, with an increase in Stockbridge of 1.16 percent and an actual decrease in West Stockbridge of 4.58 percent.
In his letter to the editor, Chip Elitzer writes: “For all 58 Massachusetts school districts, that additional amount in FY2017 [that would have been raised by the Education Finance Reform Act] would have been $210 million.”
The amendment won’t change the current headcount formula, but will give Great Barrington a break by using a measurement of a town’s wealth to determine how much it should pay for future capital projects.
In 2016, the Regional Agreement Amendment Committee was formed with citizens from our three towns to once again review and update the Regional Agreement of the Berkshire Hills Regional School District. They met for more than a year.
Representatives from Stockbridge, West Stockbridge and Great Barrington, along with school committee members, were finally able to hash out something that could ease some of Great Barrington’s financial burden.
In his letter to the editor, BHRSD School Committee candidate Rich Dohoney writes: "If working families like mine our going to continue to live here, we must continue to keep the quality of the education high while keeping the costs reasonable for taxpayers. This will not be easy."
Whether or not the town's school allocation passes this time, Great Barrington will still be obligated to pay a $14.5 million share of the Berkshire Hills Regional School District budget.
In his letter to the editor, Chip Elitzer writes: “A Massachusetts Education Finance Reform bill that would fix dysfunctional aspects of current laws and put all of the Commonwealth's regional school districts on a sounder financial footing.”
In a letter to the editor, Chip Elitzer of Great Barrington writes: "What counts is a framework that gets the [School] District the money that it needs to survive and prosper, and the most efficient way to do that is a unified tax rate."
In a letter to the editor, Great Barrington resident Bobby Houston writes: “In the big picture, continuous tax increases harm the local economy. Surrounding towns all emerge as tax havens from GB.”
