Overview:

Mitch Grosky, a community activist and former teacher, is running for the Athol Royalston Regional School Committee seat left vacant by Laura Robinson's resignation. Grosky, who has 29 years of experience as a teacher and administrator, believes the district is at a "pivotal moment" regarding the future of Athol High School. He emphasizes the need for responsible use of taxpayer dollars and high expectations for students, as well as taking bullying seriously. Grosky's opponent is Emily Meuse, who was appointed to the committee in September.

ATHOL – Longtime community activist Mitch Grosky is running to complete the final two years of a vacancy on the Athol Royalston Regional School Committee.

Also running is Emily Meuse, who was appointed in September 2025 to fill the committee seat left vacant by the resignation of Laura Robinson. Grosky also has two more years left on his current term on the Selectboard.

“I served nine years total on the School Committee,” Grosky said, “I have 29 years as a teacher, and nine years in administration for experience. So really, my commitment to the children in Athol and Royalston never really faded. Retirement didn’t lessen my concern for academic excellence in our schools or in my belief in what schools can achieve; I think it strengthens it.”

Grosky said most of his professional life has been dedicated to education on the Athol Royalston Regional School District.

“I’ll be 75 years old this summer and this is my 47th year as a resident of Athol, and I still feel I have the energy and the experience and perspective to offer at what I see as a really important time for our district,” he added.

Grosky believes the school district has reached what he called “a pivotal moment” relative to the future of Athol High School.

“We’ve certainly made important progress in the last decade,” he said, “including community support for new facilities like ACES [Athol Community Elementary School] and a decade before that, the middle school, and a few years before that for Royalston Community School. Now we have the current feasibility study on Athol High School.”

Grosky said the future of Athol High School will not be determined by the School Committee alone.

“It’s also the responsibility of all the boards and committees in town, as well as the taxpayers, to first read the report carefully and with an open mind,” he said. “We then need to decide as a community whether we want to work on simply maintaining the high school as it is for the immediate future, or whether we want to work on a partial or complete renovation of the school to ensure we meet the needs of the children and staff, or whether a new facility is the best means of meeting those needs.”

He said while education is among the priorities of state officials, there are limited funds flowing from the state to local school districts.

“I think we have to be responsible with taxpayer dollars,” said Grosky. “But we also have to focus on planning wisely for the future for the needs of the students and staff.”

While the future of the high school is among the priorities being mentioned by constituents, Grosky said another is “high expectations for students, both in regard to academics and in regards to behavior. When it comes to behavior, I think they’re talking about holding students accountable for their actions. I think teachers and guidance counselors work to see that consequences for bad behavior is appropriate and measured. I think they try to work with restorative justice, trying to ensure kids are made to make up to those people who they’ve hurt in some ways through their actions.”

He said the subject of bullying has also been brought up in his discussions with residents.

“There are specific protocols in place for handling bullying. It simply can’t be ignored, it can’t be minimized or excused,” he said. “We have to take reports of bullying seriously. They have be investigated properly, and they have to be handled according to the protocols, which really are very specific and very clear. Students and parents have to know exactly how their concerns are going to be addressed.”

Since 1979, Grosky and his wife Anne have lived in a home on Riverview Avenue in Athol, where they raised two children, Joshua and Mariah. Before beginning his career as an educator in the ARRSD, he also taught at Gardner High School, The Winchendon School and The Bromfield School in Harvard. He has a bachelor’s degree in English from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, and a masters in teaching from Fitchburg State College [now Fitchburg State University].