HUNTINGTON – Last night the Gateway Regional School Committee met for the first time since Gov. Deval L. Patrick signed a bill allowing the town of Worthington to unilaterally withdraw from the district.
Now, the Committee, whose membership is comprised of residents of all six remaining Gateway Regional communities and Worthington, finds itself in limbo, unsure whether to accept Worthington’s exit and move on or work together with the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to fight the withdrawal.
“Yes, the governor signed the Worthington withdrawal, but there’s still a lot of questions with it – what date it’s enacted, whether it’s 60 days or 90 days,” said Committee Member Ruth Kennedy of Russell. “Right now, it’s just a signature on a piece of paper.”
Kennedy, the committee’s legislative liaison, said she is checking into the bill’s fine print.
“This is only a ‘may withdraw’ from the district, and then Worthington requests from the School Committee whether they can withdraw or not. Then we vote and send it out,” she said. “I will get all of the process – how it’s done, where it’s done, when it’s done, who to send it to – I should have it pretty well together for the next meeting.”
Committee Chairperson Gretchen Eliason said she attended a recent Friday evening information session put on by the Gateway Towns Advisory Committee (GTAC) and that many hilltown residents are viewing the situation as much more dire than she believes it actually is.
“Some people are imagining worst case scenarios that are very unlikely,” Eliason said before introducing the district’s legal counsel, Atty. Russell Dupere, who was on hand to address the committee’s questions and concerns.
Eliason listed several unfounded scenarios she has heard about, including that the Worthington withdrawal would require the dissolution of the entire district, and that the withdrawal would require a new district agreement between the remaining six towns of Blandford, Chester, Huntington, Middlefield, Montgomery and Russell.
Eliason said both of these scenarios aren’t likely to occur and deferred to Dupere for the details, who summarized what will happen next.
“If they (DESE) feel that the district’s students can’t be educated sufficiently or Worthington’s students can’t be, then they could not allow it to happen,” he said. “It comes down more to whether Worthington is able to educate their kids, because the district is going to show they can.”
Dupere also put to bed the notion that Worthington’s departure would require a district reorganization.
“The goal (of the act) was to ensure Worthington could get out without following the regional agreement language,” he said. “The act doesn’t affect the rest of the regional agreement at all, in my opinion.”
“When can we expect a decision from Worthington whether they’re going to withdraw or not?” asked Jeff Wyand, a committee member from Huntington.
Eliason said the process calls for both Worthington and the Gateway District to submit their education plans within 60 days of the governor’s signing the bill, at which time DESE Commissioner Chester Mitchell will review them.
“I would presume after the commissioner and DESE gives a decision to the town, I would presume they would want to act quickly,” Eliason said. “I don’t believe there’s any timeline defined in the legislation, no specific deadline for Worthington to notify the district.”
Wyand was also curious about whether Worthington’s decision to withdraw is time sensitive.
“If they choose not to leave this year, can they decide to leave next year or the year after that, or any time in the future?” he asked, to which Dupere said he didn’t see that in the language.
“There’s nothing (in the act) about what happens if they miss that date,” he said of the 60-day time frame to submit education plans to DESE. “If the parties don’t do it within 60 days, there’s no language saying this goes on forever. They have to meet that timeline.”
Huntington Finance Committee member Darlene McVeigh stated that the district may be in limbo well into next year.
“Our understanding is that the Governor signed the bill on the seventh, and we haven’t determined whether it becomes law in 60 or 90 days,” she said, citing a recent presentation given at Huntington’s Stanton Hall. “Depending upon when he signed it, you have 60 days to send in the education plans, then DESE has 60 days… if you start adding this up, it could be 180 days if DESE decides to not to give it’s opinion until deadline. So you’re talking mid-next year.”
McVeigh cited sections of legislation, specifically the withdrawal agreement, as key points of contention.
“We need to get a timeline, what the School Committee feels is their timeline,” she said. “I don’t think we can wait. Summer is approaching, and it does get harder and harder to get ahold of people.
A sitting member of the GTAC, McVeigh added that that body has recommended that the school committee and administration begin conversations with member town officials about future updates regarding a withdrawal.
“The towns are going to want to have representatives at the table when talking about Worthington’s expenses, the reorganization needs conference, which doesn’t start at any time,” she said. “It’s up to this school committee to take this legislation and figure out when you’re going to start identifying what needs to be done and who’s going to be in charge of it.”
McVeigh also stated her opinion that a lot of hilltown residents are still unaware of the full scope of the situation.
“I think the residents are concerned that all options are explored by individual towns,” she said, “but without any additional permanent funding, $639,000 has already been figured as a six to seven percent overall increase to the towns assessments.”
“You have towns like Chester who are already over $20 per $1,000. (Proposition) 2.5 limits them to $25. They’re getting pretty close, low on free cash,” McVeigh said. “They estimate within two years, they could be filing for bankruptcy.”
Eliason said she hoped the committee will consider the creation of a schedule, while Dupere advised not to wait to begin looking ahead.
“You have 60 days. I would start planning now,” he said. “If you wait until you figure out when the legislation is finalized… you know it’s going to be. Most likely Worthington will submit a letter saying they’re withdrawing. So if you know it is all happening, I’d start planning for it now.”
