By Mike Donovan
HILLTOWNS–As Worthington’s withdrawal from the Gateway Regional School District makes its way through the state government, the Gateway Towns Advisory Council (GTAC) together with officials and concerned citizens from the other six towns, continue to question the reasons the town wishes to withdraw and to look for ways to keep it in the district.
Worthington’s state representative, Steve Kulik, who is also a resident of that town; and Senator Benjamin Downing, who represents several Gateway towns, co-wrote the bill, currently known as H3515. Efforts to pin down the current state of the legislation have been difficult, presumably due to the holidays. On Dec. 16, however, an informal session of the state house of representatives approved the withdrawal and sent the bill on to the senate. Kulik said this week that the senate had not yet voted and would take up the legislation according to its own schedule. Whether the bill would be addressed during a formal or informal session is unpredictable, according to Kulik.
“It could be either one,” he said, “It all depends on the senate’s schedule.”
Assuming the senate passes the bill, it still must be signed by the governor, and may have to clear other hurdles before it can take effect.
In the meantime the Worthington selectboard has finally agreed to meet with GTAC this month after declining several of GTAC’s requests for a meeting. The group’s members wish to discuss the town’s reasons for wanting to withdraw and see if there are ways to keep it in the district. Also, the Huntington Board of Selectmen has scheduled a “Multi-Town Forum” to discuss the impact the withdrawal would have on the other Gateway towns, and to seek strategies to prevent the legislation from passing the senate. Because the withdrawal, if successful, will increase the cost of education funding for the remaining towns (Blandford, Russell, Montgomery, Huntington, Chester and Middlefield) the towns will also look for funding to mitigate the impact. Huntington’s selectboard has notified Governor Deval Patrick and state representatives and senators of the meeting, hoping that at least some of them will attend. Kulik will be unable to be there that night, but has agreed to meet with the Huntington selectboard on Wed., Jan. 22 at 6:30 p.m.
In the meantime opponents of the withdrawal expressed shock at the manner in which the bill passed the house. Derrick Mason, a member of the Russell Finance Committee as well as GTAC, complained that the legislation passed the house during an informal session, with only five representatives present. “It should have been handled in a more democratic way,” he said. “I was hoping for a full debate.”
He is also concerned that Worthington’s withdrawals might prompt towns to withdraw from other regional school districts, and he is urging hilltown residents to contact their legislators. “We need to look at every possible option to control this movement,” he said.
Gateway Regional School Committee Chair Gretchen Eliason, who is a Worthington resident, said there are several reasons for the town’s desire to withdraw from the district. Although the closing of the Russell H. Conwell Elementary School is the most prominent among them, other reasons include the subsequent need to bus very young students to the Littleville Elementary School in Huntington, and the fact that Worthington has been paying more than its fair share of the Gateway budget.
The state uses a formula that takes income and property values into account, and the district has been assessing Worthington, where both numbers are higher than in most of the other Gateway towns, at a higher rate. The governor’s budget last January allowed for the return of some of this money as a reduction for the town in this year’s assessment, but in Massachusetts the house of representatives and the senate also put forth budgets, which a conference committee then reconciles before a final budget is approved. During the process, Worthington’s reduction disappeared.
Worthington has also urged the district to add programs and generally improve its educational offerings. At a public hearing in Boston last September one of the concerns expressed by Worthington supporters was the impact on educational quality of constant reductions in the Gateway budget forced by the towns. This year the district had to present four budgets to the towns before gaining approval.
If the town is allowed to withdraw from the Gateway district, it will re-open its elementary school and bus older children to the Hampshire Regional School District. Worthington would not become a member of the Hampshire district, but would employ a method similar to school choice. Although this will cost taxpayers more than if the town stays in the Gateway district, residents appear willing to bear the additional cost.
Having an elementary school in town is an important priority for Worthington parents, Eliason said.
“After Conwell closed there was a big drop in Worthington students at Gateway,” she said. “It’s a real concern for parents.”
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