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Date: 10/11/2023
WILBRAHAM — The Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School Committee received a report from Superintendent John Provost and Assistant Superintendent for Finance, Operation and Human Resources Aaron Osborne that detailed community opinions on reconfiguring the district as well as what each building usage option would cost or save in the years ahead.
After several months of narrowing options for a reconfigured district from more than 100 to four, residents had a chance to weigh in on the options over the summer through six informal opportunities to have conversations with the superintendent and a survey that was sent out to the school community at the end of the 2022-2023 school year.
At most schools, between 50 and 70 students responded, however 99 students at Wilbraham Middle School filled out the survey, while 41 responded at Green Meadow School. Four of the students in the transitioning program at Thornton W. Burgess answered the survey. Reflecting the greater number of students from Wilbraham than Hampden, 60% of responses came from Wilbraham, while 20% were from Hampden residents. Another 20% were from other towns, largely due to staff living outside the district.
The responses showed that about one-third of respondents said the school to which they were most connected — such as having a child attending the school or that they worked there — was either overcrowded or underutilized. Twenty-six percent felt their school was “just right,” according to the survey. Just 16% replied that they have experienced both conditions, while another 16% were “unsure.”
More than four in five of those who took the survey said they supported changes to the regional agreement, with 90% of Hampden residents and 77% of Wilbraham residents in favor. Most of those opposed cited concerns about eighth graders attending school with older students, something for which each of the four remaining options calls.
“When you get concerned about what eighth graders may see at the high school building, you’d be surprised what they see at the middle school,” Osborne remarked. He went on to say that he has been in schools in which grade 8 is a part of the high school and called it a “double win.” Eighth graders be able to access facilities that they cannot now, and there would be adequate, appropriate space for students to learn, rather than having to use every corner of space available. Provost said the current lack of library access for middle school students is a major concern of his.
Of the four options, 41.9% of those who took the survey voted in favor of option 1, which would close Thornton W. Burgess School, move all kindergarten and first grade students to Mile Tree School, turn Green Meadows School into K-5, Stony Hill School into grades 2-3 and Soule Road School into grades 4-5. All students in sixth and seventh grade would attend Wilbraham Middle School and grades 8-12 would be housed at Minnechaug Regional High School.
Just over 18% of respondents preferred option 2, which is the same as the first except Stony Hill and Soule Road schools would each house grades 2-5. The other two options received 10% or less of the vote. The remaining fifth of survey responses indicated they would prefer no change.
Provost said all of the other options had been removed from consideration because they would have resulted in a school housing just one grade. He said that part of the goal was to limit the number of times in a student’s academic career that they would be forced to change schools, as it is disruptive to learning.
Osborne broke down the costs associated with relocating classrooms, construction needed for spaces to accommodate new purposes and the addition of items such as mini-split air conditioning units and technology to various buildings. During the first four years after the building usage changes, the district would suspend accepting new School Choice students, Osborne said, although he noted the program can be restarted after that. This cessation and the corresponding lack of new revenue would have a financial impact. Osborne also included the savings that closing one building would provide.
Option 1 would cost the district $113,532 over the first four years. The changes would save $300,418 over that same period, resulting in a net savings of $186,886. The costs and savings for option 2 are similar, with the district saving a net $162,886 over four years. If School Choice were not restarted in year five, both options would result in about $56,000 in lost revenue each year after.
Unlike the first two options, which save the district money, Option 3 would see a net loss of $93,950 in the first four years and $52,000 lost annually after that if School Choice were not restarted. Option 4 would be the most expensive reconfiguration, with a net loss of $523,830 over four years and $150,470 each year thereafter without School Choice.
School Committee member Michael Tirabassi asked about the necessity for a gazebo, paving and picnic tables for the courtyard at the high school, which would cost $100,000 and was included in the moving costs for each option. Osborne explained that the eighth graders would need an outdoor space for drop-off and pick-up times, as well as at lunch. Provost said lunches are already crowded with some students eating in the hallway. When asked about winter conditions, Osborne joked that students come to school in winter wearing shorts and said it was unlikely to be an issue except on the coldest of days. Tirabassi suggested the district provide a detailed explanation of the expense and said some in Wilbraham would likely see it as a want rather than a need.
Provost said that over time he has come to prefer Option 1 over the other three. It would limit the number of building transitions students will experience and said teachers want to stay with their grade cohorts to help with collaboration. Without that in place, he said he was worried about morale. Parents have also expressed “tremendous” apprehension that there would be inequities in education between multiple schools with the same grade levels. He said he feared three schools with the same grades would alienate parents.
School Committee member Bill Bontempi asked how a K-5 school is equitable for students who have to switch schools between grades 3 and 4. Provost said it is “the best we can do.”
Residents are not the only ones who must come to a consensus on a revised regional agreement. Provost explained that voters from both towns, the School Committee and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education must agree on a new regional agreement for the changes to pass.
DESE gave the district a list of provisions it wants included in the agreement. Among them, that it is clearly publicized that School Committee members elected in the spring are not seated in their roles until the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1 and a School Committee make-up that reflects the population of each town, rather than the enrollment split. DESE would need to sign off on any towns added or removed from the district. The body also asked that the budget process be extended to be completed closer to the April 30 deadline required by state law. The district now uses an accelerated process.
While the district operates a preschool program, it is not a requirement of the regional agreement, and DESE would like that to be added.
DESE also wants the district to continue following the statutory method, in which regional school funding is comprised of each town’s required local contribution, their share district’s net school spending and their share of transportation, capital project debt service and any other costs not already included in the net school spending.
Tirabassi asked how the district would share responsibility for a regionalized middle school, should the district choose to pursue that as part of the reconfiguration. Osborne said there are several ways that could be worked out, including a structure similar to the way responsibility for Minnechaug Regional High School is shared between the towns.
Bontempi said he is “vehemently” opposed to regionalizing the middle school and referenced the negotiations that have been required to fund the high school’s capital expenses.
School Committee member Sean Kennedy asked if the district should regionalize grades K-12 so that Wilbraham students can attend Green Meadows School. Provost pointed out that students can do that now and opined that suggesting regionalizing K-12 would be “politically explosive.”
Bontempi then asked Curriculum Director Lisa Curtin and Director of Student Services Gina Roy what the best way to educate students would be if there were no restrictions. Kennedy told him there was no way to look at the situation without considering the constraints, but Bontempi compared the reconfiguration process to “deciding what hotel to stay at when we haven’t determined our destination.” He said he wanted to make sure the goal of student achievement was not lost in the process.
Kennedy, who is on the Planning Committee, said there had been a suggestion to wait until the 2025-26 school year to implement the reconfiguration, rather than in the fall of 2024. Bontempi responded that he was “extremely disappointed” in the Planning Committee’s progress since it was created by the Strategic Plan a year ago. The overcrowding at Wilbraham Middle School is “desperate,” he said, adding that the Planning Committee had “failed” to move fast enough.
Kennedy defended the Planning Committee, saying it had worked to be transparent and have all “voices heard.” If people do not feel they have had input they would be less likely to vote for the changes to the regional agreement, he said. He also said temporary measures could be put in place in overcrowded schools, although he did not cite any specifics. School Committee Chair Michal Boudreau, who is also on the Planning Committee, added that the towns have said organizing a January Special Town Meeting would be difficult and construction times are considerations in when to implement the change. Referring to the narrowing of options, the survey and the conversations Provost hosted over the summer, she said, “All of these pieces, they’ve taken time. We want to make sure we do it well.”
A vote passed unanimously to instruct the district’s legal counsel, Sean Sweeney, to begin the first steps in the process to change the regional agreement. The next meeting of the Planning Committee is Oct. 17, at 5:30 p.m. at the high school.