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Upcoming School Committee Meeting and Budget Workshop February 28th, 2024

Posted on by William Garrity

Update: The Regular Meeting at 5:15pm will be recorded by PCTV. The budget workshop will not be covered however.

The next Pittsfield School Committee meeting on February 28th is being divided into two meetings, a brief regular meeting with one item on the agenda, and our first budget workshop. Both meetings will be held at Reid Middle School (950 North Street) in the Library.

The regular meeting will start at 5:15pm.

The budget workshop will start at 5:30pm or after the regular meeting adjourns.

Upcoming Regular Meeting

Click here to view the agenda for the regular meeting

Click here to view the packet information

The Pittsfield School Committee will have a meeting on Wednesday, February 28th at 5:15pm in the Reid Middle School Library (950 North Street).

Any member of the public may wish to speak during our public comment period. Public comment is limited to 3 minutes per person and the public comment period is limited to 15 minutes unless the school committee votes to extend the public comment period. Anyone wishing to speak during the public comment period may be required to sign up before the meeting starts.

Agenda Highlights

There is one item on the agenda for this meeting.

Restricting Virtual School Enrollment – Commonwealth Virtual Schools (CMVS) are virtual schools that serve the whole state and are approved by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. Currently the two CMVS in the state are the Greater Commonwealth Virtual School (GCVS, and formally known as Greenfield Commonwealth Virtual School) and TEC Connections Academy Commonwealth Virtual School (TECCA).

Under Massachusetts State Law a school committee may “restrict enrollment of its students in commonwealth virtual schools if the total enrollment of its students in commonwealth virtual schools exceeds 1 per cent of the total enrollment in its district; provided, however, that no student enrolled in a commonwealth virtual school shall be compelled to withdraw as a result of that vote.”

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has determined based on student enrollment data reported to them on October 1st, 2023 that more than 1% of students from Pittsfield are enrolled in a CMVS. Under DESE Guidelines the School Committee must vote by March 1st if it is considering restricting student enrollment in the CMVS.

Based on this information, the School Committee will discuss then vote on whether or not to cap enrollment to the CMVS.

Upcoming School Committee Budget Workshop

Click here to view the agenda for the meeting

Click here to view the packet information

The Pittsfield School Committee will have its first budget workshop on Wednesday, February 28th at 5:30pm following the regular meeting in the Reid Middle School Library (950 North Street).

There will be no participation by the public for this portion of the meeting.

Agenda Highlights

  • Building an Understanding of the Budgeting Process
  • Overview of State Aid, Enrollment Projections and Grants (usually a presentation given at a regular School Committee meeting)
  • Small Group Discussions with the District Leadership Team

Newsletter

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School Committee Meeting Recap February 14th, 2024

Posted on by William Garrity

Click here to view the agenda and packet information for this meeting
Click here to view the meeting recording

Acceptance of Donation for Taconic’s Auto Technology Program – Toyota Motors North America, Inc. is looking to donate the use of a 2023 Toyota GR86 with an estimated value of $25,723 for 5 years for Taconic’s Auto Technology Program. School Committee policy requires the committee to accept any donation of $5,000 or more to the Pittsfield Public Schools. The School Committee voted to accept the donation.

Report on Education Spending Outside of School Committee Budget and Governor’s Budget Update

Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Kristen Behnke gave the presentation. Here is the most important information:

Big takeaway: If Pittsfield was in group 11 we could possibly receive $1 million to $1.5 million more based on rough estimates. More information will come during our budget workshop on February 28th.

Discussion of Submittal of an SOI with the MSBA Regarding Crosby Elementary School and the Submittal’s Role in the Restructuring Planning – The district is looking at a potential new building project on the Crosby site as a part of its restructuring project. In order to get state funding for the project, the Superintendent must submit a Statement of Interest (SOI) to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) by Friday, April 12th. The School Committee and the City Council must vote to authorize the Superintendent to submit the SOI.

Superintendent Curtis gave an overview of the work the School Building Needs Commission and the school restructuring consultant DRA (who were the architects for the Taconic High School building project) have done. Here are some highlights of the presentation:

The proposed Joint City Council and School Committee Workshop would also include a tour of the Crosby and Conte sites.

This is the district’s master plan spanning out to 2046. Click here to view a larger version.

When asked about PHS administration mentioned that it would cost approximately $120 million to renovate PHS. It would also be difficult to run two building projects at once.

Approval of Memorandums of Understanding with the United Educators of Pittsfield and the Pittsfield Pittsfield Federation of School Employees/AFT, Local 1315, Bus Drivers’ & Attendants’ Unit – These Memorandums were tabled until our next regular meeting.

Next School Committee Meetings

At the moment our next meeting will be our budget workshop on Wednesday, February 28th at 5:30pm at Reid Middle School. Due to the nature of the workshop format this meeting will not be recorded (though the first portion of the meeting which is a group presentation might be, more information to come).

Our next regular meeting that is scheduled is Wednesday, March 13th at 6pm at City Hall in City Council Chambers.

Newsletter

Want updates like this to be sent to your inbox every Monday? Then sign up for my weekly School Committee newsletter here!

Upcoming School Committee Meeting February 14th, 2024

Posted on by William Garrity

Click here to view the agenda for the meeting

Click here to view the packet information

The Pittsfield School Committee will have a meeting on Wednesday, February 14th at 6pm in City Hall Council Chambers (70 Allen St). The meeting will also be broadcasted on PCTV Channel 1302, PCTV’s Facebook page, and PCTV Select.

Any member of the public may wish to speak during our public comment period. Public comment is limited to 3 minutes per person and the public comment period is limited to 15 minutes unless the school committee votes to extend the public comment period. Anyone wishing to speak during the public comment period may be required to sign up before the meeting starts.

Agenda Highlights

Acceptance of Donation for Taconic’s Auto Technology Program – Toyota Motors North America, Inc. is looking to donate a 2023 2023 Toyota GR86 with an estimated value of $25,723 for Taconic’s Auto Technology Program. School Committee policy requires the committee to accept any donation of $5,000 or more to the Pittsfield Public Schools.

Report on Education Spending Outside of School Committee Budget and
Governor’s Budget Update

Discussion of Submittal of an SOI with the MSBA Regarding Crosby Elementary
School and the Submittal’s Role in the Restructuring Planning – The district is looking at a potential new building project on the Crosby site as a part of its restructuring project. In order to get state funding for the project, the Superintendent must submit a Statement of Interest (SOI) to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) by Friday, April 12th. The School Committee and the City Council must vote to authorize the Superintendent to submit the SOI. More information will be discussed at the meeting.

Executive Session – There will be an executive session to discuss negotiations with the United Educators of Pittsfield (teachers union), the Pittsfield Educational Administrator’s Association (educational administrators union), and the Pittsfield Federation of School Employees/AFT, Local 1315, Bus Drivers’ & Attendants’ Unit.

Approval of Memorandums of Understanding with the United Educators of Pittsfield and the Pittsfield Pittsfield Federation of School Employees/AFT, Local 1315, Bus Drivers’ & Attendants’ Unit – These Memorandums will be discussed in executive session and then the School Committee will vote on them in open session. The Memorandums of Understanding will be released after the executive session.

School Committee Meeting Recap January 24th, 2024 + Budget Updates

Posted on by William Garrity

Meeting Recap

Click here to view the agenda and packet for this meeting

Click here to view a recording of the meeting

First Reading on New Curriculum Materials and Courses

School Committee policy require all changes to curriculum and adoption of new curriculums and courses to be approved by the School Committee, with the proposals being read (voted on) at two different meetings.

The following came up for a first reading and will be on the agenda again at our next regular meeting.

New Textbooks (All approved)

  • Environmental Science for the AP Course – For AP Environmental Science at PHS
  • Young Producers Group Complete Curriculum – For Music Production 1 and 2, Music Appreciation, Career Awareness for Young Producers

Pilot Programs (All approved)

  • UFLI (pronounced you-fly) Foundations at Morningside – New literacy curriculum developed by the University of Florida based on “science of reading” principles with the goal of improving literacy outcomes for students.
  • TeachTown’s Meta Play – Meta Play is a Pre-K curriculum “offers a systematic, play-based approach to fostering the development of imagination and play skills in young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disabilities, developmental delays, and social and emotional disabilities.”

New Courses (All approved)

  • PHS
    • High School Playwriting & Directing
    • High School Musical Theatre Performance
  • Reid (these elective courses were developed to rearrange elective course offerings in response to teacher turnover)
    • STEM Lab
    • Personal Finance
    • Introduction to Digital Literacy

Approval of New Tutoring Program – Ignite Tutoring Program

Ignite! Reading is a “new approach to reading instruction that is built to teach non-readers to READ”, utilizing 15  minutes a day of 1:1 virtual tutoring. Tutoring is for qualifying first graders based on reading ability.

At the meeting it was reported that the program has been working and the kids are very happy about meeting with their tutor/”friend” each day!

The School Committee voted to approve the pilot program.

Approval of School Committee Representatives

Per School Committee policy at its meeting after its organizational meeting the School Committee shall appoint members to serve as representatives to various bodies and groups. The Chair made the following recommendations for appointments, which the School Committee approved:

  • Berkshire Legislative Delegation: Hon. Peter Marchetti
  • Berkshire Anthenaeum Board of Trustees: Diana Belair
  • School Building Needs Commission: William Cameron
  • Berkshire Compact for Higher Education: TBD (the Chair does not know if this organization exits anymore)
  • Berkshire Chamber of Commerce: Sara Hathaway
  • City Council: William Cameron and Sara Hathaway
  • School Councils: Daniel Elias
  • Berkshire Educational Resources K-12: William Cameron

Presentation on Paraprofessional Educational Opportunities

Due to a communication issue, this item was tabled until the next meeting.

Budget Updates

Governor Healey released her proposed state budget for Fiscal Year 2025 (which runs from July 1st, 2024 to June 30th, 2025). After the release of the Governor’s budget, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE’s) released it’s preliminary estimates of Chapter 70 school aid (which is where Pittsfield Public Schools gets most of its funding from).

Based on DESE’s estimates, Pittsfield is estimated to receive $61,496,778 in Chapter 70 aid this fiscal year. This is a $649,248 increase compared to last physical year.

For comparison here are the increases in Chapter 70 aid spanning back to FY18:

  • FY18: $390,423
  • FY19: $2,119,739
  • FY20 $5,020,681
  • FY21: $477,007
  • FY22: $1,497,516
  • FY23: $4,594,226
  • FY24: $6,592,719

For a state education funding’s expert on this, I would highly recommend checking out Tracy Novick’s Whos of Who-cester Blog Post Governor Healey FY25 budget recommendation. But here is the highlight of the post:

If you’re in a district with falling enrollment and not a high rate of low income students (thus meaning you’re not getting the driving push of the SOA increases in low income rates), a 1.35% inflation rate isn’t going to be enough to push a significant increase. It’s certainly made it harder for districts still in hold harmless to get back out, particularly on top of the $60 per pupil minimums last year. 

Even the Gateways–and yes, I’m including Worcester in this–aren’t seeing the same increases we have in past years, when the inflation rate was being driven by the pandemic spending of previous quarters.  

And no one’s budget is increasing by 1.35%. 

More to come on the FY25 budget process at our next School Committee meeting in February.

Upcoming Subcommittee Meetings

  • January 29th @ 5:30pm Personnel and Negotiations Subcommittee Meeting at Herberg Middle School – Executive session to conduct collective bargaining sessions with the United Educators of Pittsfield (Teachers Union). (Agenda)
  • January 30th @ 5:30pm Personnel and Negotiations Subcommittee Meeting at Mercer – Executive session to conduct collective bargaining sessions with the Pittsfield Educational Administrators’ Association (PEAA) (Agenda)

Upcoming Dates

  • January 22-February 2, 2024 – Annual Family Survey Range
  • February 2, 2024 – Secondary Families Receive Notice of Quarter 2 report cards
  • February 2, 2024 5-7p.m. For the LOVE OF ART Exhibit Opens @ the Lichtenstein!
  • February 2 – February 9th – One Week to Celebrate our LOVE OF ART!! Join to view midway Senior Portfolios, Drawings & Paintings, Photography, and Ceramics works by Pittsfield High School artists!
    • Empty Bowls Project: A handmade bowl. A simple meal. A way to fight hunger. Help us fill the bowls in our community! Join us for our Empty Bowls Event. All the proceeds raised during this event go to the St Joseph’s/ Christian Center Food Pantry in Pittsfield. Dinner of soup and bread “to go” will be available with a suggested donation for the one-of-a-kind ceramic bowls that are taken home after.
  • February 14th, 2024 – Next regular School Committee meeting

In Defense of Students on IEPs

Posted on by William Garrity

I attended the United Educators of Pittsfield’s Mayoral Q&A session on October 19th. I decided to attend to learn about the mayoral candidates’ positions on educational matters as if elected I will be serving with one of them on the Pittsfield School Committee.

During his opening statement mayoral candidate John Krol made the following remarks that I feel is worth sharing:

“There’s three different types of students in every single classroom, there are high performers, there are middle of the road, and then there are those who are on IEPs and those kids that also can be disruptions in our classrooms.”

As a former student who was on an IEP throughout most of my time in the Pittsfield Public Schools, I find this remark highly offensive not only to me but to our students on IEPs in our district.

Continue reading “In Defense of Students on IEPs”

Public Comment to the Pittsfield School Committee Regarding Making Taconic a Fully CTE School

Posted on by William Garrity

Good evening members of the Pittsfield School Committee,

I’m William Garrity, Taconic Class of 22 alumni, and former student representative to the school committee, and I’m here tonight regarding transitioning Taconic to a fully CTE school.

Continue reading “Public Comment to the Pittsfield School Committee Regarding Making Taconic a Fully CTE School”

Taconic Becoming a Fully Vocational School: How did we get here? (Part 3)

Posted on by William Garrity

View part 2 of this series of blog posts here!

As I continue to write these blog posts, I am starting to realize that the presentations given out by the administration basically have a lot of the same information in it (why the district wants to have Taconic become a fully vocational school, the benefits of the CTE program, myths about the CTE program, rough timeline, etc.) but with some added information not found in previous presentations. Because of that, I’m just going to summarize all of the new information from here on out. You may view the linked presentation or video recording if you want to see what else was talked about.

The November 28th, 2022 CTE Community Information Session

On November 28th, Taconic Principal Matthew Bishop, Taconic Vice Principal for CTE Teaching and Learning Marcie Simonds, Assistant Superintendent for College and Career Readiness Tammy Gage, and Superintendent Joseph Curtis hosted a virtual CTE Community Information Session to discuss Taconic transitioning to a fully vocational school (this was a rescheduling of a meeting that was going to take place on November 10th but was canceled due to technical difficulties). The presentation covered the following additional points not discussed in previous blog posts:

Continue reading “Taconic Becoming a Fully Vocational School: How did we get here? (Part 3)”

Taconic Becoming a Fully Vocational School: How did we get here? (Part 2)

Posted on by William Garrity

View part 1 of this series of blog posts here!

The July 20th, 2022 School Committee Meeting

On the agenda for the July 20th, 2022 School Committee meeting was a “Presentation and Discussion on Steps Needed to Make Taconic High School a Full Vocational School for the 2023-2024 School Year” (timestamp 1:30:00 – 2:42:56).

This presentation by Taconic Principal Matthew Bishop, Assistant Superintendent for College and Career Readiness Tammy Gage, and then Pittsfield High Principal Henry Duval covered the following points (note that this information was accurate as of July of 2022):

Continue reading “Taconic Becoming a Fully Vocational School: How did we get here? (Part 2)”

Taconic Becoming a Fully Vocational School: How did we get here? (Part 1)

Posted on by William Garrity

This is the first big blog post I have done on this site, so lets see how this goes!

I have been somewhat out of the loop for the past few months on where things stand regarding Taconic’s transition to a fully vocational school. This was an issue that popped up during my tenure as a student representative, but because it came close to the end of my tenure I didn’t get to discuss it that much (even though I tried to get a discussion on having the transition start in the fall of 2022 on the agenda before I left for various reasons). And because of my busy schedule this past fall I wasn’t really able to keep up with the Pittsfield School Committee that much. But as this is an important topic and that I received word from the district that the School Committee will be voting on turning Taconic into a fully CTE school at their January 25th meeting, I think it is a really good time to delve right back in and see where we are at.

But first, lets review how we actually got to this point. I’m going to start from the March 23rd School Committee meeting as that is when the School Committee seriously started to consider transitioning Taconic to a fully vocational school (and we need somewhere to start). Though I should point out there was a presentation given on this matter at the July 14th, 2021 School Committee meeting (timestamp 39:45 – 1:38:47) which does have a little bit of background information though that information is repeated throughout future presentations.

Continue reading “Taconic Becoming a Fully Vocational School: How did we get here? (Part 1)”

Closing Remarks at My Last School Committee Meeting

Posted on by William Garrity

Here are the final remarks I gave at my last meeting on the Pittsfield School Committee as a student representative (May 25th, 2022). Not exactly what I said as I made some changes on the fly, but the message is the same.

And I am sad to say that this is my final meeting as a student representative (barring any special circumstance requiring a meeting between now and my graduation date). I have really enjoyed being in this important position, and I just wish I had more time here to continue this great work I have achieved. I have revitalized the role of the student representative, and I have even brought the district back into compliance with Mass General Law by having elected student representatives rather than appointed. I am so proud of the work that I have done, and I am excited to see the great work of the successor student representatives!

Now on to some thanks you:
I would like to thank former chair Ms. Yon for supporting my work on the school committee, including answering my various questions before and during my student representative tenure, as well as during my time on the superintendent search committee.

I would like to thank Dr. Cameron for also supporting my work on the school committee, also answering my various questions, and being willing to reach out to the student body at Taconic with his student meeting at Taconic.

I would like to thank the rest of the school committee members for supporting the work I do as well, and listening to my remarks during meetings and taking them into consideration during your deliberations.

I would like to thank Mr. Curtis for supporting the work I do on this committee, for being willing to work with me on matters pertaining to students (including holding elections for new student representatives), and for answering my various questions and emails over the past year or two.

I would like to thank Dr. Bishop for supporting my work that I do on this committee as well as all of the wonderful work I do at Taconic, and for also answering my various questions and emails from the past 4 years at Taconic.

I would like to thank my aunt, Lee School Committee member, and president of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees Andrea Wadsworth for helping me through the difficult times that I have faced on this committee and in my other involvements, as well as giving me good advice on how to handle myself at school committee meetings.

I would like to thank Sean Furbush, student representative to the Billerica school committee, on the various pieces of advice he has given me over the past year in my role as a student representative, as well as helping to create the game changer organization that will be the Massachusetts Association of Student Representatives.

I would like to thank my two fellow student representatives from PHS, Heather and Alma. Heather, I am very thankful for the work you have put into this committee and how dedicated you are to this role, and I am very thankful to have the opportunity to work with you this year. As I know you are not going to be in the district next year, I wish you the best of luck on your future endeavors. Alma, though we haven’t talked much you still showed up to these meetings, which shows that you are dedicated to this position and I think if you serve again you could make great impacts on you and your fellow peers.

And last but not least, I would like to thank the most important person in this room, Ms. Blake. You are the person that keeps the ship afloat by managing school committee minutes, documents, and being a general historian to the school committee. I would like to thank you for handling my various requests over the years, even before I became a student representative, whether that be requesting minutes or asking for more information about a certain policy. You make this ship run and I would like to thank you for that.

I am going to be attending Berkshire Community College this fall, majoring in Computer Networking and Cybersecurity. But even with this different pathway I will be going down I will still be involved in my local community, and this meeting will not be the last you will hear from me.

That is all I have for tonight and thank you all for everything you do!