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Date: 3/17/2022
GRANBY – The Granby School Committee met on March 8 and discussed topics ranging from regionalization to budget and the updated mask policy.
Superintendent Stephen Sullivan explained to School Committee members that the schools would be sending out a regionalization survey to seek information and interest from the community on making the move for Granby’s grades 7-12.
Sullivan said in speaking with University of Massachusetts Boston’s Collins Center and the Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (DESE), that both parties were in agreement the next step of determining if regionalization was a possibility for Granby is determining if there would be partners from surrounding towns in regionalizing.
“Ultimately, this is going to be between the towns,” said Sullivan. “There’s a long road to travel with any interest. This is not being pushed in any way.”
Sullivan added this was no indication of official moves in regionalizing, but that it was to gather information and get feedback from the community on the idea.
The possible towns that were floated in the brainstorming discussion for regionalization were Ludlow, South Hadley, Ware, and Hatfield. School Committee member Jennifer Bartosz added that the feedback received from the survey to be sent out by the end of the week would be beneficial in reading the community’s thoughts on the idea.
“We want to see what the feedback is. Once you open the door is when we hammer things out,” Bartosz said. “Whatever happens from this interest survey, that becomes the conversation.”
Bartosz called the survey an “exploratory mission” and that they are putting out the survey and seeing where it goes from the feedback.
Following the conversations on regionalization the committee moved to Director of Finance and Operations Adam Tarquini to hear an early preview of the fiscal year 2023 budget process. Tarquini said the town is being diligent in the steps it is taking this year after feeling under prepared a year ago when pressed at Town Meeting on certain budget allocations and cuts.
“We left that meeting and said this can’t happen next year. We’ve kept that in the back of our minds,” Tarquini said.
Due to their precautionary preparations in the next year’s budget, Tarquini added that while he would have loved to present a budget that night or sooner, but that there was no rush on doing so now.
He said the finance team is focusing on the things they feel the town needs to focus on and that when Town Meeting comes this year they will not run into the same problems with questions from the community.
“We are trying to take a step back and get a wide view of what our budget means for the town and townspeople and educators,” Tarquini said. “This year I think we will be very well versed in the questions that come up.”
Sullivan added that the budget for the schools is always money well spent as it is an investment to the community. He also said much of the budget is not about adding on to previous year’s costs but that it was about the requirements needed to be met for the students needs.
Tarquini said there will be a forum at the end of the month to introduce the preliminary budget to the School Committee, which will be followed by a public hearing to formally present the budget to the public and have a School Committee vote on the budget at a later date.
In a continued discussion from the previous meeting, the School Committee updated the status of the mask policy. In their previous meeting they voted to adopt a policy that included masks only being required in school health offices and for students 6 to 10 years of age returning to school from a positive COVID-19 test.
With masks being optional in schools now, the superintendent said the decision to wear one is still supported. The School Committee has followed health professionals’ recommendations both in town and state wide and according to Bartosz, “aren’t in the business of making a mandate because none of us are health professionals.”
The superintendent added that this policy, while already enacted in schools, would be back for an official vote on March 22 after language within the draft is changed. The committee already made this vote a week ago, but this upcoming vote would be to formalize the change into school policy.