I’ve shared the date, time, and general parameters of the upcoming Needs Conference, which will be led by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) regarding the impact of Worthington’s withdrawal from the Gateway Regional School District. We now have the specifics of the meeting, which will be posted on the district’s website (www.grsd.org) and have been shared directly with local officials. As indicated in my last column, this is the one opportunity for the public to weigh in on the impact of Worthington’s withdrawal on the rest of the district. For those unable to access the Internet, the meeting is being held under the auspices of Chapter 97 of the Acts of 2014 on Wednesday, December 3 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Gateway Performing Arts Center. Following the introductions of DESE Personnel (Christine Lynch, Governance & Facilities Program Manager and Jay Sullivan, Executive Director, School Finance & District Support Center) and their opening comments, town officials, school committee members, school officials, and the general public are invited to provide input on the following items:
I. Solicitation of information on the impact of the withdrawal of the Town of Worthington from the Gateway Regional School District on the District and its member towns:
a. Current & future enrollment in the district
b. Inventory of all educational facilities under the jurisdiction of the remaining communities in the district (the facilities of the Gateway Regional School District)
c. Plans for the reimbursement of the Commonwealth’s capital facilities located in the Town of Worthington
d. The requirements for continued assessments to the Town of Worthington for district facilities previously paid for by the Town of Worthington
e. The administrative structure of the new district
f. The long-term fiscal impacts of the withdrawal of the Town of Worthington, including detailed analyses of;
i. Transportation
ii. Special Education
iii. Vocational Educationm
iiii. Personnel Costs
g. Fiscal recommendations to hold harmless the remaining communities
II. Closing Comments
The format of the evening is that each item will be open for input from the district, town officials, and general public (in that order) with a three-minute time limit for each speaker. The district and DESE agreed it would be helpful if questions and information could be presented before the meeting in a written or electronic format so that the department has all of the information required to complete its report to the state legislature. This information will be reviewed by the department whether or not public comment is made during the conference. The written or electronic questions and information can be sent in prior to the conference meeting to “Needs Conference, Gateway Regional School District, 12 Littleville Rd, Huntington, MA 01050”, dropped off at the Central Office, or emailed to [email protected] or [email protected]. Any information provided before Wednesday, November 26 will be forwarded to the DESE before the conference.
