Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 10/21/2021
HUNTINGTON — The Gateway Regional School Committee agreed last week to stop discussing a change in mask policy after learning that it could lose millions of dollars in funding and teachers could have their licenses revoked.
“This is an issue we could keep arguing, but I feel we should move on until there’s some movement on lifting the [state] mandate,” said School Committee Chair Sarah Page.
District residents had asked, at a September meeting of the School Committee, what the consequences would be if Gateway set its own policy on COVID-19 face masks, rather than following the mandate imposed by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Statewide rules require all students and staff to remain masked indoors, regardless of vaccination status.
Gateway Superintendent Kristen Smidy said she was told by DESE that adopting a more relaxed policy would threaten the $6.2 million that Gateway receives annually in state funding. She said any days without a mask rule will not count as “time on learning,” which would leave Gateway short of the 180 school days it needs to qualify for state aid. She said there’s also a risk that the state would revoke teachers’ licenses. She said state Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley added, “there are no districts not following mandates.”
“It isn’t about agreeing or disagreeing,” said Keri Morawiec, Blandford representative. “Right now, we can’t do anything else.”
Huntington representative Pegg Dragon noted that Gov. Charlie Baker has said the state is at about 73 percent vaccination rate, and asked what the percentages were for Gateway schools, towns and student bodies.
Smidy said among the staff who have volunteered their vaccination status, which is not mandatory, the rate is 40 to 60 percent. She added that only five districts statewide have achieved 80 percent vaccination among eligible individuals, the bar at which DESE has said schools can remove their masking requirements. Smidy said in the future, the state may allow testing in lieu of the 80 percent vaccination rate.
Jason Forgue of Chester said of those five districts, three of them chose to remain masked.
Smidy added that it is difficult to get vaccination rates for all of the towns. The state does not report a vaccination rate for Montgomery, for example, because it shares a ZIP code with Westfield. Montgomery residents are counted as part of Westfield’s statistics.
Late bus program growing
High School and Middle School Assistant Principal Martha Clark reported that late buses for students who attend after-school events began this month, and are available on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. The buses leave the school at 4:20 p.m. and stop at regular route stops. She said 25 students have signed up for the service.
“We’re trying to grow it. The staff here is amazing,” Clark said, adding that it is not too late to sign up for after-school clubs. One club is contracting with a company that brings kayaks and will go to Littleville Lake once a week with students, she said.
Business Manager Stephanie Fisk said the buses are being paid out of ESSER II grant funding, part of the federal coronavirus relief bill that passed in December 2020, and are also being budgeted for ESSER III funding, which will come from the federal American Rescue Plan Act passed in March 2021.
Student representative Joseph Pisani reported that the first spirit week of the year had been “awesome,” and that all four student council officer positions for all four high school grades had been filled. He said a planned survey to students on their thoughts and priorities had just gone out, and he will report on the results at the next meeting.
Smidy also reported that Gateway Athletic Director Matt Bonenfant has been nominated by the Pioneer Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference as athletic director of the year.