HUNTINGTON – The Gateway Regional School Committee will have a full agenda for their meeting tonight at Gateway Regional High School at 7 p.m.
Recent meetings have been dominated by discussion of the town of Worthington’s ongoing separation from the district and tonight’s meeting will be no different, according to Committee Chair Michele Crane.
“We’re going to have a very initial conversation about the separation and we’re starting to put together a document,” said Crane.
She added that the topic of school choice for students living in Worthington who wish to still attend Gateway schools will also be broached.
Budget talks will also take up much of the meeting, she said.
“We’re going to be having presentations from a couple of our principals regarding the upcoming fiscal year 2016,” said Crane. “The 9C cuts to current budget will also be discussed, as those are current challenges we’re trying to overcome, dealing with cuts in the middle of the year.”
Those cuts were made to regional transportation funding by former Gov. Deval L. Patrick last fall to the tune of $18 million and while current Gov. Charlie Baker has stated he would like to restore the funding to the Commonwealth’s regional districts, Crane said she has heard of no progress on that front.
Crane stated yesterday afternoon that a lawsuit filed by School Committee member Ruth Kennedy in Hampshire County Superior Court on behalf of the district’s remaining towns and the School Committee against the town of Worthington and the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will also be discussed.
“We’re going to get an update on that, as our attorney will be at the meeting,” said Crane. “We’ll be going into executive session to discuss some of that stuff.”
