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Date: 2/12/2020
HUNTINGTON – The Gateway Regional School District, which serves the towns of Huntington, Blandford, Chester, Middlefield, Montgomery and Russell, is in “pretty good shape,” said Superintendent David B. Hopson.
“We’re fortunate as a school to have a pretty stable staff and administration,” Hopson added.
He pointed to Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations Stephanie Fisk’s more than 20-year tenure at the school as one example. Last spring, Fisk was appointed by Governor Baker to serve on a special commission to study and make recommendations to improve efficiencies relative to transportation for students.
Hopson himself will have served as superintendent of schools at Gateway for 18 years when he retires in August of 2021, and has served on many state boards, including the Mass Rural Schools Coalition. He said a lot of school district superintendents stay three, four or five years, and not too many superintendents transition from eight years on the school committee, and one year on the school council, as he did.
Recently, the school committee, which is comprised of members from the six Gateway Regional towns, voted to conduct the search for a new superintendent themselves, and to not use an outside firm.
Also over the last three years, the school committee began meeting regularly with town officials to work on developing budgets and on a revised regional agreement, which was required to be updated by the state. The talks began after several contentious years and difficulty passing a school budget by four of the six towns, the majority required for passage.
Some of the meetings are facilitated by retired superintendents from the Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools, including retired Southwick Superintendent Jay Barry. Through these meetings, the district has developed a new regional agreement that includes an alternative assessment option to the towns.
The traditional statutory assessment to the towns was determined by the percentage of students from each town as of the March 1 census. This could vary wildly from year to year with just a small shift in student population, due to the relatively low populations in the towns and the declining numbers of students at Gateway, which totals 800 from pre-school to high school.
The alternative assessment ties all of the towns’ contributions to the Gateway budget, with the same percentage increase as the budget from year to year, which cannot exceed 2.5 percent. All six towns must vote for the alternative assessment, which passed the first year, but not the second.
This year for example, Huntington has seen growth in its number of students, which will impact the statutory assessment. For the alternative assessment to work, Hopson said it really has to be all six towns looking long term, according to Hopson.
“You can’t vote against it the year you spend money and vote for it when you save money. That’s not how it works,” he said, adding that the alternative assessment is the only way that doesn’t penalize towns for having families move in.
Although this year’s graduating class has less than 40 students, Hopson said grades 8 to 11 have larger classes, and there are a number of preschoolers who will age into kindergarten after March.
“We’re fairly stable in school population. We’re not a growing student population because there is not a growing population in the six towns, which triggers a situation with the budget,” Hopson said.
He gave an example from Blandford, where Hopson serves as the town moderator. He said in 1850, Blandford’s population was twice as big as it is today. “The school and towns are linked together,” he said.
Hopson said the collaborative work between the schools and towns also drove a new Chapter 74-approved Early Education and Care (EEC) and full-day preschool program.
Students have begun the preliminary course work for the EEC program, which will roll out in the fall. This is the second Chapter 74 program for the school district, which also offers welding certification.
Students in the EEC program will be prepared for three possible tracks upon graduation. They will receive the hours needed to be a preschool teaching assistant; have a jump start towards an associate’s degree to become a lead teacher, or they could pursue a four-year degree in education.
In addition to the full-day preschool program in the middle-high school, which is connected to the Chapter 74 program, Gateway has half-day preschool in Littleville Elementary, and full and half-day preschool in Chester Elementary. All of the preschools are free.
“We developed the new PreK program in response to public demand for additional slots and to create full-day slots for working parents. The following year, we developed the Chapter 74 program to create additional vocational opportunities for our youth here in the hilltowns,” said Gateway Pupil Services Director Kurt Garivaltis about the programs.
Hopson said there are benefits to a small school. “We certainly have a diverse range of course offerings. I see moving forward an emphasis on 21st century skills, music, art, communication, and collaboration.” In 2015, the school committee started work on a 10-year plan through 2025, work which continues.
Hopson said recently middle school students did a student shadow day in the high school. “Some students didn’t know we had a MAC class to do design.” Gateway was one of the first districts in the area to become one to one schools, where each student is assigned a computer.
This year Gateway hired a new curriculum director, a position that had remained unfilled for the past few years, which Hopson said is going to make a big difference in updating the curriculum. The ability to move Deanna Leblanc from MS/HS assistant principal expedited the process, he added.
They also rolled out a new Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) initiative this year, which is a way for schools to encourage good behavior, and which is going well.
Hopson said they’ve also made a lot of progress in internships, working with local businesses, especially with some students in special education. Over the last few years, the district purchased a few school buses and hired drivers to give students opportunities for job shadowing during school.
Gateway also has an active sports program, which works in collaboration with other area schools. For example, Gateway hosts a downhill skiing program in an MIAA collaboration
Hopson said cross country is a pretty big sport for them these days. They also have a few students who play hockey in Westfield.
Next year is going to be a big year in girls’ soccer, following the retirement of Steve Estelle after decades as coach. A new soccer coach will be hired in the fall.
Collaboration with the towns in other areas continues as well. For the first time this year, Gateway joined the towns in sharing the position of Economic Development Coordinator Jeanne LeClair, which he said has been working very well for them. LeClair has taken on some of the duties of long-time community relations director Wendy Long, who retired in October.
Gateway is also seeking a Green Community grant in conjunction with Blandford and Chester to update the boilers in the school.
They have also given free space recently to It Takes a Village, a non-profit organization that offers supplies to mothers with young children, as well as educational programs and counseling. Hopson said their mission is close to the needs in the community.
Hopson is not optimistic that the Student Opportunity Act (SOA), recently signed by Gov. Charles Baker will amount to increased aid to Gateway Regional. He said even if they receive the additional $30 per student in the new Chapter 70 aid formula that will amount to only $24,000, and involves a lot of work in detailed plans on short deadlines.
“I would have liked to have more support in rural aid. The Student Opportunity Act does not help in any significant way,” Hopson said, adding that their budget was built on receiving rural school aid again this year, which was not a part of the Governor’s budget. Last year, Gateway received $256,000 in rural school aid, a little more than 1.5 percent of the budget.
Even if they receive the rural school aid, Hopson said the district has already informed the towns that the school budget contains a 2.5 percent increase, which could mean a 3.5 percent increase to the towns due to the state formulas.
Hopson said all of the changes under the Student Opportunity Act don’t even cover the cost of inflation.
“There are a lot of superintendents facing this dilemma. In reality, over 200 schools are not getting more money from SOA,” Hopson said, adding that the state hasn’t really addressed the funding needs of communities and schools in small and rural towns.