Residents rallied outside of Town Hall before Thursday's meeting to oppose the Selectmen asking for delays to the Mount Greylock Regional School building project.

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Some two dozen residents sent a clear message to the Board of Selectmen on Thursday that they do not want the board to say anything to the Massachusetts School Building Authority until a townwide vote is taken.

 

The Selectmen called a meeting for Thursday to discuss whether or not it should send a letter to the MSBA asking for extensions on the deadlines for the Mount Greylock Regional School building project.

 

In the face of massive opposition right outside Town Hall, the motion to do so failed to get a second.

 

"We're not trying to derail the new school. We all think we need a new school," Selectman Henry "Hank" Sayers said.

 

"We're just asking for deadlines to be extended so we can get all of the information from the state and different groups." 

 

Sayers said that between a group of county school officials looking at regional consolidations and the recent proposal from the Adams-Cheshire Regional School district to collaborate, there isn't enough time for town officials to do sufficient due diligence.

 

"We'd just like to hear from everybody before we spend our money," Sayers said. "We're not trying to derail, we are just looking for an extension."

 

But it is too late for that, school officials and residents in favor of the building project said.

 

The Mount Greylock building project for Lanesborough and Williamstown middle and high schoolers, conceived nearly a decade ago, is nearing approval from the state. The School Building Committee has narrowed the project down to a preferred option of a partial renovation with an addition (a presentation was made to the Facilities Assessment Subcommittee on Wednesday morning). The MSBA is expected to approve a final cost by spring; the state will provide reimbursement for more than half the total project, with both towns picking up the balance.

 

"We got to this point through a deliberate, thorough dialogue," said Lyndon Moors, both a former member of the building committee and a teacher. "Calls now to further delay, deliberate and research is not sincere. Ten years of study is enough."

 

The concern is that delays to the project will mean the school loses its place in the funding pipeline. Only about a 10th of the applications each year get funded. The project is moving at the MSBA's pace and the fear is by asking for extensions, it could jeopardize the state's willingness to partner in the project.

 

Those fears aren't entirely unfounded.

 

Mount Greylock itself lost its place in line, per se, when it reacted to a collapsed locker room ceiling and a needed boiler replacement. MSBA, through its repair program, provided half the cost for that but it delayed efforts for a major renovation for several years. In North Adams, vocal opposition to Colegrove Park Elementary School delayed that almost a year and a citizen's petition vote nearly sunk the project. In Great Barrington, voters last fall rejected a $51 million renovation project for Monument Mountain Regional School, apparently under the impression that the MSBA would fund piecemeal repairs. It did not, forcing the school district to consider other options.

 

Mount Greylock School Committee member Steven Miller says delaying decisions comes at a cost.

 

"I strongly agree in investigating all options and keeping all options open but at some point there is a cost to keeping options open," Miller said.

 

Sayers, however, says the project will come at a cost of $2 on the tax rate. While he conceded that the schools do attract people to live in town, he says the taxes are getting so high that young families can't afford to do so.

 

"We're looking for the best education for our children at a reasonable price," he said, adding that the money does matter.

 

Both of the reasons Sayers cited for an extension was rebuked by the crowd.

 

Regina DiLego sits on the coalition of school officials and said that group has no plans on deciding to shut down schools. The goal is to enhance the collaboration among districts to find ways to save money, although far into the future that could mean consolidation. But, she says that won't impact the Mount Greylock building whatsoever.

 

"Our purpose is not close schools ... Our purpose is to look at ways to consolidate services," the Lanesborough School Committee chairman said. "This task force is looking at ways to help towns save on education."

 

As for Hoosac Valley High School, the crowd said if the town switches affiliations they're moving out. The parents cited Mount Greylock's educational quality in test scores and college acceptances as the biggest asset in attracting homeowners.

 

"The education that we all received was outstanding," resident Kathleen Flynn Kasuba said.

 

Superintendent Douglas Dias said Mount Greylock wouldn't be the same without Lanesborough and that the building project is absolutely needed. 

 

"The building project is something that is necessary at this time because our kids deserve it. ... We need to have our facility reflect what is going on inside of it," Dias said. "We will be conscious of the costs both now and in the future."

 

Mount Greylock Regional School Committee member Rich Cohen said if Lanesborough residents want to send their children to Hoosac, they already can. But nobody does so. He said Hoosac has open school choice seats in every grade that go unfilled. At Mount Greylock, however, those open seats fill up almost immediately.

 

He also added that the Selectmen aren't in a position to interject into the process. The building committee is charged with working with consultants and architects — through the feasibility study that overwhelmingly passed at town meeting — to craft a project. Both the MSBA and townspeople will cast votes on whether to fund it. 

 

"There is no role the Board of Selectmen have in this process," Cohen said. "It is the people who decide what our districts look like."

 

Curtis Asch, a teacher at Berkshire Arts and Technology Public Charter School, said comparisons to other schools show Mount Greylock consistently outpacing them. The Lanesborough resident said if he wanted to observe another teacher, he'd look to Mount Greylock.

 

Those attending the meeting said all they want is a vote before the Selectmen throw a monkey wrench into the works. 

 

"All we are asking is that you take a step back before doing anything," said P.J. Pannesco. "I hope that you give everybody else in town an opportunity to vote, to make a statement, either at the ballot box or at a town meeting."

 

And the Selectmen just might do so. On Monday, the board will consider calling a special town meeting in November. School officials are calling for at least a vote on whether the town should continue to consider partnerships with Adams-Cheshire Regional School District. That nonbinding vote would be a telling sign for the future of the building project.

 

Thursday's meeting was so well attended that it was moved from the Selectmen's office downstairs to the larger room. It led Asch to joke that he's never "seen a letter get this much attention since a scarlet one." He later add that the only scarlet letter he was interested in was the letter G: Greylock's logo.

 

Chairman John Goerlach said he called the meeting on Thursday because he expected a large crowd. Some of the Selectmen had asked for such an item to be placed on the agenda and Goerlach didn't want the discussion of a letter to overwhelm the regular Monday meeting.