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Date: 5/4/2023
Committee members Maura Ryan, who represents Hampden, and Wilbraham’s Patrick Kiernan both decided not to seek another three-year term. Meanwhile, School Committee member Sherill Caruana is running to continue representing Wilbraham on the committee.
There are three candidates for the two Wilbraham seats. In addition to Caruana, Michael Tirabassi and Christina Beckel are vying to serve on the committee. Hampden’s Richard Rediker and Meredith Anne Sample have put their hats in the ring to replace Ryan.
Reminder Publishing asked the candidates a series of three questions. Below are their answers in their own words, with candidates listed in alphabetical order, by town. Sample did not respond to inquiries by press time.
Reminder Publishing: What qualities or experiences make you qualified to serve on the School Committee?
Hampden
Richard Rediker: I have been involved with education for my entire life, I have been a Hampden resident for 45 years. All three of my daughters went through the HWRSD from start to finish. I have seen education from all sides — teacher: I taught chemistry at Longmeadow High School from 1978-1985. HWRSD School Committee member: I was a member in the 1990s when we merged the separate elementary districts into the regional district. Educational Software Company Founder and CEO: I founded Rediker Software which services schools in over 100 countries and in all 50 states. In my role, I visit schools and attend educational conferences around the world.
I have no agenda except for wanting the best possible education for our students. My goal will be to provide our excellent administration and teachers with the resources they need in a cost-efficient manner. I will also listen to the concerns of all stakeholders, including the community.
Wilbraham
Christina Beckel: Several qualities and experiences make me the most qualified candidate for School Committee. First, I am the mother of three children, two that still attend school in the district, and one that graduated last year and is currently attending the sixth ranked college in the country. I feel that there is a need for more parent representation on the School Committee. As a partner in education, bringing the parent’s perspective to their decision making is important.
Secondly, I have been a substitute teacher in the district for several years. This has given me a unique perspective on how our schools function, as well as ideas on what can be improved. If you elect me, I will support our amazing, hard-working teachers, while also striving to improve curriculum and our children’s educational experience. In addition, as a certified flight instructor, I have to utilize effective and focused teaching techniques that take advantage of my student’s specific learning styles. Teaching flight students to make critical decisions in stressful situations is essential to their success in the sky.
Furthermore, growing up in other countries, I have experienced educational systems that are much different than what we are used to, with all their advantages and disadvantages. Having this knowledge will allow me to bring fresh ideas to our school district, improving the way we educate our children.
Finally, last year I was chosen to serve on the HWRSD Strategic Planning Committee. This experience offered a detailed understanding into the needs of our children and the wants of our community and gave our district a blueprint to follow in the years ahead.
Sherrill Caruana: Passion, perseverance and seeing possibilities have been my North Star in working to make HWRSD an outstanding school district. In 1994 at Memorial School and Mile Tree, I created the Lab Science Specials program for elementary students. I wanted to create a program that would ignite a child’s passion for learning-by-doing and this program, which is still in use today for kindergarten through fifth grade, does exactly that.
Sixteen years later, I stepped away from teaching to become the Principal of Stony Hill School. My goal in entering administration was to support the teachers, paras, and staff in the incredible work that they do, while still getting to enjoy the kids. After six rewarding years at Stony Hill, on June 30, I retired. However, still seeing possibilities, the next day, on July 1, I began my service as a duly elected School Committee member. Once again, I am running. Because of my perseverance and commitment to making a difference for the children in our district, I am seeking my third, three-year term on the School Committee.
Michael Tirabassi: As a father and a pediatric surgeon, I am a fierce advocate for children. My five children have all been educated in HWRSD. Personally, I am a product of New Jersey public schools, and I am now an Associate Professor of Surgery at Umass-Chan Medical School, giving me a firm grasp of the educational mission as a learner, parent, and educator. I have also served for the past year on the Wilbraham Finance Committee. The HWRSD school assessment is nearly 60% of Wilbraham’s town budget. Having a firm grip on municipal finance is essential to successfully advocate for the funding our children need. With the implementation of our long-term Strategic Plan, there are going to be a number of changes in our school district, and I am well prepared to do my part to make sure the children and their education are prioritized every step of the way.
Reminder Publishing: What changes should be made to the way the schools are funded? Does the regional agreement need to be changed to accomplish this?
Hampden
Rediker: Given enrollment changes and inflation, changes do need to be made in the way our schools are funded. Instead of each town being subjected to potentially large changes in their share based on the annual population breakdown, using a five- to seven-year average population for each town’s share would make budgets more predictable. As someone who was involved with the original regional agreement, another reason it may need to be changed is to better utilize buildings across the district.
Wilbraham
Beckel: If I am fortunate enough to earn your vote, I will work extremely hard to use our available funds and resources to deliver a better education for our children. Our residents have been extremely generous in the funding of our schools, paying one of the highest tax percentages in Western Massachusetts with increases every year, yet the quality of our education has been decreasing. We can’t continue to do this to our community. The solution starts at the state level. Our legislators need to get to work to procure adequate funding of our schools, equal to those in the eastern part of the state, and to stop prioritizing urban districts over rural ones like ours. In [regard] to the regional agreement, I would work towards establishing a five-year rolling average plan, which I believe would bring more balance to the agreement.
Caruana: The School Committee is tasked with the awesome responsibility of assuring that we have adequate funding to educate our students with exceptional staff and low class sizes. We must work diligently to mitigate draconian cuts in personnel and services, while still seeing the possibilities for new educational directions and programs. We need to keep our eyes open for any efficiencies, no matter how small, that can be utilized to offset our assessment. We must continue to lobby our state legislators to fund regional transportation allotments to 100% reimbursement as promised each and every year by the state Legislature, but rarely becomes a reality. We must find an answer to the problem that the tax levy limit from Proposition 2 ½ does not keep up with the rising cost of education in the commonwealth. And we must work cooperatively together as a regional district when determining the fiscal restraints on both our towns resulting from the monetary burdens we share.
Tirabassi: We need to end unfunded school mandates in Massachusetts. For example, this coming year there is a state mandated increase in out of district special education tuition of 14%, but the state currently is not providing nearly any of the funding to cover the increase. I believe the children with special needs do need these services, but I fail to understand why the state ignores their responsibility to help with the cost. It is an essential job of our School Committee to work with our state representatives to command the support our school district needs. The School Committee could advance this mission by forming a legislative subcommittee to organize and improve our state level advocacy.
Additionally, our school district needs to consider changes to the regional school agreement. The formula used to share the costs among the towns is based on student enrollment, alone. Traditionally, 75% of the children lived in Wilbraham, thus Wilbraham contributed 75% of the funding. While we often like to discuss education as a per student cost, this does not reflect the reality of running a school district. For instance, buildings have many fixed costs, regardless of enrollment. Over the past half decade this ratio has shifted, now Wilbraham is responsible for over 80% of the cost. This coupled with record inflation and increased unfunded state mandates left Wilbraham in a difficult position to fund the school budget. For a new model to be implemented it would need to be proposed by the School Committee and then accepted by each town.
Reminder Publishing: What are the two most important issues facing the School Committee in the next 12 months?
Hampden
Rediker: One: Implementation of our Strategic Plan. A lot of work was put into our recently completed strategic plan. If its goals are met over the next five years, our district will clearly be in a better place to serve the needs of our students, teachers, and the community. As with any plan, there will be associated direct and indirect costs that will have to be managed.
Two: Declining enrollment. [Minnechaug Regional High School’s] enrollment has declined by 10% over the past five years. Currently, Minnechaug averages around 255 students per grade level while the average elementary grade is only around 195 students. Managing declining enrollment will be extremely challenging as expenses do not drop proportionally with fewer students.
Wilbraham
Beckel: The most pressing issue facing education in our district is our recent drop in school rankings. We need change on our School Committee that will provide fresh insights and ideas. Our schools cannot continue to underperform, or our children will be left behind. The second most pressing issue is delivering on the commitments of the Strategic Plan. I am the only candidate for School Committee who worked on the Strategic Planning Committee. If you vote for me, I will deliver on these promises, which will significantly enhance our district’s educational system.
Caruana: As a School Committee, we have many issues facing us next year. The good news is that with the arrival of our new superintendent, we have a head start on two of the most important plans that will help us navigate our way towards improvement. The first is our new, five-year Strategic Plan. Superintendent Provost began working to implement this plan immediately after his arrival in our district. This plan maps out our vision and serves as a roadmap for moving our district forward towards continual improvement. The second plan began with the equity audit and is now moving into the implementation phase. We know where we are going with the Strategic Plan. Now, with the equity audit, we can make a plan to get everyone, in the words of [former superintendent Dr. Paul Gagliarducci], “On the Bus.”
Tirabassi: The two most [important] issues are execution of the Strategic Plan and proposing changes to the regional school agreement. When Wilbraham and Hampden became a regional school district in 1956, the intent was to regionalize starting at the ninth grade. The current distribution of students across the buildings in our district remains unbalanced with overcrowding in some schools, and other buildings under capacity, creating inefficiencies. It is certainly worth exploring formally regionalizing the school district for all grades so we can optimize educational resources to create the best possible educational experience for all of our students.