BOSTON — The Six Town Regionalization Planning Board made its case for special legislation that would allow Gill, Northfield, Bernardston, Leyden and Warwick residents to join Montague in voting at the ballot box on whether to establish a five- or six-town regional school district during a joint House and Senate hearing on Wednesday, April 8.
The meeting of the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government was attended by board Chair Alan Genovese, Vice Chair Greg Snedeker and member Jane Dutcher, who all spoke in favor of this special legislation put forward by state Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, and state Rep. Susannah Whipps, I-Athol, with support from former 1st Franklin District Rep. Natalie Blais.
The special legislation comes from a request to allow the five towns to join Montague in holding a town-wide election to vote on establishing the proposed Great River Regional School District. The district would be established via a ballot question on whether to approve a regional agreement with all six towns — or with five towns, if Warwick residents vote against the proposal, as the town has indicated it is not in favor of a merged district. The goal is to have the town-wide elections this fall, if the special legislation is passed.
Montague is required under Massachusetts General Law to vote on the new district at a town-wide election, rather than at Town Meeting. This is because Montague has a representative Town Meeting, as opposed to an open one where all residents can attend, which is the case in the other five communities. Pending state approval, this legislation would allow the five other towns to vote on the establishment of the proposed regional district via a ballot question.
If the towns approve of a new district, the transition would begin in 2027, and the Great River Regional School District would officially launch for the 2028-2029 school year.
In her testimony, Dutcher explained that she approached Comerford with her concern about being “disenfranchised” by the law as a Bernardston resident when it comes to voting on the proposed merger. She said she approached the senator to explain her concerns about how, if residents in Montague are allowed to vote on the proposal in a special election rather that at Town Meeting, the other towns should be allowed to as well.
“Because I live in Bernardston, I can only go at one specified time, and if that is impossible for me for one reason or another,” she said, referring to the structure of voting at Town Meeting, “I’ll lose my vote, and so will a lot of other people in my town. I feel if Montague gets to vote whenever they want to during open poll time, every citizen of the other five towns should have the same right and privilege.”
All the speakers stressed the importance of this vote, with Genovese saying that it “may be among one of the most important decisions the towns will make in the immediate future,” and sharing his support for all six towns having a chance to vote at the ballot box.
Snedeker provided context on the need for a new, merged district as enrollment declines at the existing Gill-Montague Regional School District and Pioneer Valley Regional School District. The Six Town Regionalization Planning Board has stressed how declining enrollment is impacting educational and extracurricular opportunities for students who don’t fill classes and teams, and financial stability as state aid declines and districts rely more on town assessments. The board’s website explains the benefits of regionalization as improving student experience in academics, extracurricular and social connections, with enrollment of approximately 1,600 students from Pre-K through 12th grade.
Under the regionalization proposal, high school students from the six towns would be educated at the existing Turners Falls High School and Great Falls Middle School. Middle schoolers would occupy Pioneer Valley Regional School and elementary students would remain in their current buildings. The board has said there is no plan for teacher reductions, but central administration positions would be consolidated.
Since last fall, the Six Town Regionalization Planning Board has conducted public outreach regarding this proposal. Opinions from district leadership at the Pioneer Valley Regional School District have been negative, with the district’s School Committee voting not to recommend regionalization. Warwick Community School also voted not to recommend regionalization. However, the Gill-Montague Regional School District opted to take a neutral stance, and chose not to vote on whether to recommend it.
“I can’t stress enough how important this decision is for these six towns,” Snedeker said during his testimony on Wednesday, adding that the six towns “have written letters of support, not only for this legislation, but also over the years, for our work to continue.”
