WORTHINGTON – During Wednesday night’s meeting in Worthington, the Gateway Towns Advisory Committee (GTAC) sought to bring its interests to the attention of the school committee and to try to influence the school committee to work with GTAC on the upcoming reorganization needs conference being set up by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).
“So far, the school committee has been relatively inactive in the process,” said GTAC member Derrick Mason Friday. “We’re trying to help them understand that the needs conference is going to be very critical to the future of the school district.”
Mason said GTAC wants to help them get this process underway and completed as soon as possible.
“I’m hoping we can attend all of the (needs conference) meetings in some form of an official capacity, and to keep them up to date about whats happening at the GTAC level and any activities we’re undertaking,” he said. “We want to make sure that we know what they’re doing (school committee) as much as possible.”
Mason added that the organizations have been “stovepiping” quite a bit up until now, and feels that the two organizations have to work cohesively going forward.
“One of GTAC’s main purposes is to help ensure that what happens during the withdrawal (of the town of Worthington from the school district) is ultimately beneficial to the district and least detrimental,” he said.
Montgomery Selectman Dan Jacques, who has worked has a liasion of sorts for GTAC, wrote a letter to the committee outlining what the mandates are from DESE in the reorganization process, and what different considerations they need to take into account.
GTAC is urging Gateway Superintendent Dr. David Hopson to write a letter to the DESE requesting they complete the reorganization conference prior to making a decision on whether to allow Worthington to leave the district.
Jacques’ letter also suggested contacting the Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration (MOPC), who he said has experience in “facilitating regional school system initiatives, including facilitation of inter-municipal planning and problem-solving around school districts issues and regionalization options.”
“The Committee is in the unique and solitary position to drive this process, and I encourage them to do so before it is too late,” Jacques said in his letter to the committee, adding that the district’s legislators should continue to be contacted and included in the process.
“We’re just trying to make sure this is handled effectively,” said Mason. “We feel a thorough review of the communities needs need to be figured out before or at least in tandem with educational needs going forward.”
GRSD Business and Finance Officer Stefanie Fisk said Friday that the committee voted in favor of asking for Dr. Hopson to draft a letter to be run by the school committee before being sent to the legislators representing the seven GRSD towns in Boston.
“We’re drafting the letter now and everyone on the committee is having a chance to look at it before it goes to the legislators,” said Michele Crane, Gateway School Committee chair. “Just clarifying effective dates, such as the needs conference, since it’s written vaguely in the legislation – it’s just a matter of clarifying so we can carry out the steps effectively.”
Crane said she is uncertain what the response from the district’s legislators will be to the letter.
“I hope they will accept our offer to meet with them. We did ask in the letter that they do come to a meeting so we can talk about these issues face to face,” she said. “It is hard to conceptualize some of these issues when you’re not talking face to face.”
Crane said the committee hopes it can get some financial information from legislators about how it will be able to manage this year with the loss of Worthington.
Regarding Mason’s proposal to increasing cooperation between GTAC and the School Committee, Crane said she appreciated his offer.
“I appreciate his inviting us to the next meeting and he did give us the date and time. We didn’t really have much of a response,” she said. “My response would be that the committee has the power in this situation. We’re the body that meets and can decide what to do, while GTAC is kind of like a community advisory committee.”
“We’re the group that can actually vote, and has the power to make decisions,” Crane added. “When you volunteer for a group like this, there’s only so many meetings you can attend, but there’s usually at least one (school committee) member in attendance at their meetings, whether it’s Stefanie (Fisk) or Dr. Hopson.”
