Mount Greylock Committee Says Farewell to Interim SuperintendentBy Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
06:34PM / Wednesday, June 17, 2015 | |
 The School Committee made changes to the School Building Committee that have to be approved by the MSBA. |
 Interim Superintendent Gordon Noseworthy is bidding goodbye to the Wililamstown-Lanesborough schools after leading the districts for nearly seven months. |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Ten days after the high school held its commencement, the Mount Greylock Regional School Committee said its goodbyes to a couple of "graduating" professionals on Tuesday night.
Interim Superintendent Gordon Noseworthy and Business Manager Lynn Bassett attended their last committee meeting in those capacities, and Chairwoman Carolyn Greene took advantage of the opportunity to thank each for serving the district.
Noseworthy, who was brought in this winter to replace recently retired Superintendent Rose Ellis, will be succeeded by Douglas Dias this summer.
He said that he enjoyed his short time serving the public schools in Lanesborough and Williamstown and had an opportunity for a smooth transition to Dias.
"We have had some excellent quality time together, not just the two of us, but we've interacted with different people in the community," Noseworthy said. "That gave him plenty of time to pick my brain and others' brains.
"He's in the loop with our administrative team. I feel enthusiastic about the choice you made."
Bassett will be replaced by Nancy Rauscher, who has worked in the Tri-District central office since 2011 as the administrative assistant to the superintendent, a post that now will be filed by longtime Tri-District employee Ginni Ranzoni.
"Thank you for all the work you've done bringing our house in order and getting our finances back on track," Greene told Bassett. "It's been a lot of work and we appreciate all the time and commitment."
The School Committee had a reasonably light agenda on Tuesday evening. The main order of business was approving a revised roster for the School Building Committee.
Changes to that group were necessitated by the departures of Noseworthy and Bassett, but as long as the School Committee had to add Dias' and Rauscher's names, Greene used the opportunity to check in with other members to see if they could continue serving.
Three members, David Vogel, Lanesborough Selectman John Goerlach and School Committee member Chris Dodig told Greene they could no longer make the commitment.
Goerlach was replaced by Lanesborough Selectman Robert Ericson, a former Mount Greylock committee member, but Greene did not intend to replace either of the other slots, as the committee already was large enough without them.
 Business Manager Lynn Bassett is also moving on and will be replaced by Nancy Rauscher. |
But School Committee member Richard Cohen volunteered to take on the additional duty and argued that the School Building Committee needs another School Committee member in addition to Greene.
"It seemed like from what I read that Carrie has a unique perspective of a School Committee member and one that resonated with me," Cohen said, referring to the SBC's most recent decision. "That's the kind of broad picture a School Committee member would bring. I'm concerned about it being only one member from the School Committee."
Cohen's name was added to the roster approved by the School Committee. It will be forwarded to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for its approval.
All members of the building committee — and the School Committee — will have a busy summer moving the district through the MSBA process.
SBC Chairman Mark Schiek on Tuesday brought the School Committee up to date on that process, reporting that on June 25, it will hold a site visit to Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts' Murdock Hall to learn about the building renovation process from district architect Design Partnership of Cambridge, which handled the Murdock Hall project.
By late July, the committee hopes to have its design options narrowed to one for approval by the School Committee, which must send its final recommendation to MSBA by Aug. 6 or risk falling behind in the authority's approval process.
"We've had some good participation from the communities with people volunteering to serve on the finance working group and the green/sustainability working group," Schiek said. "Community outreach is still going on, and we're looking for volunteers to come on board for other working groups as we move to the schematic design phase."
In other business on Tuesday, the committee voted to increase the rate the district pays to substitute teachers from $70 per day to $80 per day. Noseworthy made the recommendation to make Mount Greylock's rate more competitive with other school districts in the area. He also said the change will put Mount Greylock on a par with Williamstown and Lanesborough Elementary Schools, so now the Tri-District's three schools will not compete with one another for subs.
"I've heard many times from people around the county that we have low rates for substituting, so I'm glad we're doing this," Cohen said.
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