Work of SBRSD task force questioned

SHEFFIELD – A request for $2,500 from Southern Berkshire Regional School District (SBRSD) Elementary Task Force Chair Louise Yohalem was met with intense debate from the district’s school committee.

The $2,500 request was to hire a process facilitator recommended by the Columbia Teachers’ College to help the task force determine its final ideas in reporting a plan for the future of the SBRSD elementary program.

“I think we do need help,” said School Committee Member Stephen P. Willig.

SBRSD Superintendent Michael J. Singleton (who did not have a vote in the matter) also supported Ms. Yohalem’s request.

“To date, the committee hasn’t asked for anything,” he said. “They’re looking for someone from the outside with experience to gel what they’ve been working on.”

Those against Ms. Yohalem’s request pointed to the fact that the task force was formed to do this and should not have to hire someone from the outside to do the work.

“I don’t feel that we want to rely on an outside expert,” said School Committee Member H. Dennis Sears.

Other school committee members agreed with Mr. Sears.

“I don’t think we should be committing funds that are non-defined,” said School Committee Member Vito Valentini, adding the task force has met about 10 times and has not yet presented a detailed report of its work to the school committee.

“We really know very little about what this task force has done,” added School Committee Member Carl Stewart.

Ms. Yohalem responded by saying the task force is looking into alternative uses for the outlying schools, including an intensive preschool, after-school programming and arts-intensive programs.

“We’re at the point where we’re working on specific strategies for not only what to do but how to implement [the ideas],” she said.

A motion was made to table this approval until the task force made a presentation to the school committee, but concerns were raised about the task force’s timeline, causing the motion to table to fail.

The school committee ultimately voted against the task force’s request, with only Mr. Willig, Chairman Herb Abelow and Deborah Mielke in favor. (Catherine B. Miller, Charles B. Flynn and Andy Fetteroff were absent at the Sept. 20 meeting.)

Superintendent search process moves along

The guidelines for the formation of the SBRSD Superintendent Search Committee were also established.

The 14-member subcommittee of the SBRSD School Committee will include two administration staff members, two teachers, four parents, one resident of each of the district’s five member towns (Alford, Egremont, Monterey, New Marlborough and Sheffield) and one support staff member. Organizations representing all of these groups (select boards, parent-teacher organizations, etc.) will determine the specific members.

The school committee also approved the required qualifications for the new superintendent. Eligible candidates must be certified (or eligible to be certified) as a superintendent in Massachusetts, have a master’s degree or higher, 10 years of experience in education (including five in the classroom teaching) and experience as a superintendent, assistant superintendent, principal or district-wide director.

For the new superintendent, the salary will be up to $140,000 (based on experience) under a three-year contract with benefits negotiable.

Other business

The district’s policy manual was also approved, as were two field trips: one to New York City in November and another to Costa Rica next summer.

Posted by Catherine M. Krummey on September 27, 2012. Filed under Education News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry