Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 6/30/2016
WILBRAHAM – After serving for 17 consecutive years on the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School Committee, current chair Peter Salerno has announced his resignation. His resignation date is June 30.
Salerno told Reminder Publications his decision to resign was not due to the recent vote to name Albert Ganem Jr. as the district’s new superintendent. Salerno was the only committee member not to vote for Ganem. He voted for superintendent finalist Beth Regulbuto, the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District’s (HWRSD) assistant superintendent for business.
“I’ve served 17 years, I’m 75 years old; I think I’ve done my duty,” he explained. “Over the years we’ve had to close Memorial School, we built a new high school, we balanced budgets for 17 years, I spend I don’t know how many hours a year away from my family and no it has nothing to do with [the vote on the superintendent]. It’s okay for me to lose a vote, that’s fine, but that doesn’t mean I pick up my balls and go home.”
Salerno sent his letter of recognition to School Committee Vice Chair Lisa Morace on June 23, which reads, “For, without a doubt, the children and students of our two towns are the only reason that we have invested so much of our time as volunteers for education. It is hard to imagine that I will not be working for them any longer.”
He said he would “without a doubt” miss serving on the committee and considers “highest honor” as a volunteer.
“Working for [these towns] and this district for the education of kids is something that few of us choose to do and when we have the opportunity to do so few of us do. So I fill myself in a singular position that I was able to do it for all these years and I know I’ve given it all my very best,” he stated during an interview with Reminder Publications.
Salerno also shared his thoughts on middle school unification for HWRSD, of which he is a proponent.
The School Committee tabled a vote to amend a regional agreement between the two towns after public backlash against the plan to move Hampden students to Wilbraham Middle School and close Thornton W. Burgess Middle School (TWB). The amendment is required in order to create a unified middle school as a short-term solution the district’s ongoing decline in enrollment.
Salerno said he’s been “disappointed” by the lack of understanding about the issue.
“It is emotional; they’re not doing it on anything but an emotional basis,” he explained. “We’re all talking about getting along, but the plain fact is it’s the educational model that should and must drive this decision. Right now, it’s the emotion around bricks and mortar at TWB … My view is that you do need consolidation. This has been recommended by experts and I laugh a little bit, we talk about a budget problem we have, and this is going to cost us $600,000 worth of savings by not doing it.”
He said he believes children in the district would suffer the most in terms of the quality of education they receive if middle school unification is not approved.
Salerno stated in his letter that he sends his “fervent hope” that the committee’s efforts in the future would continue to be motivated by providing the best educational model for children in the district.
“This objective will require all of your strength and courage,” he said. “And, I know you will be supported by our two communities in this regard.”
Got a comment about this story? Go to http://speakout.thereminder.com and let us know.