Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 3/8/2023
HILLTOWNS — From the Gateway Regional School District budget hearing on March 1, to a plea for advocacy in the latest issue of the Gator Bites newsletter, to a speech from the third grade student advisory council of Chester Elementary school during a reception for newly-elected state Sen. Paul Mark, the message was the same: Massachusetts needs to fully fund rural schools at the $60 million level in order to deliver public education equitably across the commonwealth.
“A Sustainable Future for Rural Schools,” published by the Commission on the Fiscal Health of Rural School Districts in July 2022, identified a declining and aging population, lower wages, smaller tax base and lower student enrollment as the problem, and that districts with very low student enrollments cost substantially more to fund on a per-pupil basis, have substantially greater student transportation costs and limited potential for consolidating schools due to long travel times.
While the state has committed to investing an additional $1.5 billion in Chapter 70 education aid through the Student Opportunity Act over a seven-year period, 27 of the 41 districts identified as rural in the report were projected to receive no increases. At the time of its publication, the average benefit to rural districts was $34,278 and their total benefit was 0.39 percent of the state’s additional aid of $360,661,816 in fiscal year 2023.
During Gateway’s budget hearing, Superintendent Kristen Smidy called the equity issues addressed by rural school funding “highly concerning,” and said full funding is necessary in order for rural school students to have the same opportunities as other students across the state.
She said last year, the Gateway district only received an increase of 0.4 percent, far short of the state aid increases in nearby districts like Longmeadow (12.8 percent), Chicopee (11.4 percent) and Agawam (10.1 percent).
Smidy said there is currently a bill on the Senate floor in Massachusetts to fully fund rural aid at the $60 million level. If this bill passes, then the district will receive over $1 million to support staffing, programming and services.
“It would allow us to continue to move forward without any interruption of support to students,” she said, adding that rural aid is necessary to be able to offer AP courses, the arts, extracurricular activities and special programming for students with disabilities, and for students to be able to compete with their peers from across the state.
Smidy said advocacy by residents in support of rural school funding is critical this year when the state has the money to fund it, and sample language outlining these points was included in the school newsletter “Gator Bites” sent out on March 2.
The most compelling argument for rural school aid by far was made by third graders in the Chester Elementary School student advisory council, who delivered their message at the Chester Railway Station on March 5 during a meeting of Chester and Middlefield residents with state Sen. Paul Mark.
Chester Railway Station Trustee Bob Daley first introduced Mark, who represents 57 cities and towns in Western Massachusetts, the largest Senate district in the history of the state. The district includes Gateway member towns Blandford, Chester, Huntington and Middlefield.
Mark is originally from Hancock, the westernmost town in Berkshire County, population 757 in the 2020 census, and is moving to Becket, where he is currently building a house. He made the case that he is familiar with the struggles of rural towns.
The student advisory council, which included Trystan Couture, Sophia Stone, Gibson Mangini, Tucker Robitaille, Aleigha Dazelle-Slowick, Brewtus Briggs, Bentley Mitchell and Malaney DaSilva, were then given the floor. Accompanying the council at the meeting were grade 3 teacher Mikayla Menin and Chester Elementary School Principal Vanna Maffuccio.
Wearing T-shirts that identified them as the Chester Elementary Student Advisory Council on the front, and asking to “fully fund our future” on the back, the students took turns delivering their heartfelt speech.
The young speakers said the $60 million was needed “to level the playing field in the classroom for students living in rural communities compared to those living in other areas of Massachusetts.”
One student said that amount alone should alert people to the “level of strength and grit embedded deep into the rural roots of the families, communities” and their school district.
“Rural living is not for the faint of heart, especially here in Chester, Massachusetts. We strive for equity in access to not just clean drinking water, but sometimes any water at all,” said another student, with the next student relating how the town had to rely on the school to provide showers and drinking water last year when the town water supply ran dry.
“Shouldn’t all students have access to the same educational and learning opportunities during the school day? I should not have access to fewer opportunities or a lower quality education because of where my grass grows,” said the next two students.
The overall message they delivered was that where they live should not impact their ability to access quality learning and opportunity.
“Students in the Hilltowns are just as important, although not as plentiful, as kids residing in urban areas,” they said, asking Mark and the adults gathered to fully fund rural aid and help them towards a sustainable and successful future.
Following the students’ speech, Mark said he has seen more activity from Gateway than any other school district so far on this issue.
He also said of the $55 billion proposed state budget, $60 million is not that much, but coming from zero funding for rural schools a few years ago, full funding is unlikely to happen this year.
Mark said the previous delegation had gotten funding for rural school aid up to $5.5 million in FY23, and this year Gov. Maura Healey has initially proposed $7.5 million in the governor’s budget, and is the first governor to include it.
“We are on track to get it to $60 million. If we can get it to $10 million [this year], that would be a win,” he said.
Mark said school funding matters to everyone, and agreed with the student advisory council that one’s ZIP code should not determine the quality of education. He said rural funding does have allies on Cape Cod, the North Shore and the Worcester area, which all have communities that would receive rural aid payments.
“There is no better investment. I’m committed to it,” Mark said, adding that the governor also seems committed to it.
After Mark spoke and asked for questions, Chester Selectman Jason Forgue asked how, if the Rural School Commission recommended $60 million in order to provide equity, is $10 million a big win.
Mark said part of the problem is that 20 percent of the population in the state lives in 80 percent of the geography, while 80 percent lives in 20 percent of the geography.
“We have to make people aware of a need that doesn’t impact them,” Mark said, adding that he understands the issues well having grown up in a rural town in the district himself.
“There is no formula that is going to make small towns comparable,” Mark said, adding that in the last census, while the state population grew by 5½ percent, Boston grew by 12 percent, and Western Massachusetts declined or stayed the same.
“If we can’t win on population, we have to find ways to true it up,” he said.
Smidy also spoke up, saying the state has the money now, and it is important to push to fully fund rural aid now.