By Mickey Friedman
April 3, 2015
Some in the Berkshire Hills Regional School District (BHRSD) look down their educational noses at our neighbors of the Southern Berkshire Regional School District (SBRSD). But the administrators, School Committee, teachers, students, support staff, parents and taxpayers of the SBRSD are accomplishing in a short time what we failed to do. Prioritize. Compromise. And with the hoped-for YES vote in New Marlborough providing a new roof and energy efficient boiler for Mount Everett Regional High School.
I want to congratulate them all.
Their project will cost $7.74 million, with a 39.2 percent reimbursement of $2.74 million from the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s (MSBA) Accelerated Repair Program and a $360,000 grant from the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources for pellet boilers. With overwhelmingly voter support.
It’s something we, our Selectmen, Finance Committee members and BHRSD School Committee can learn from.
As we approach annual budget time I want to say that it’s very fair, as School Committee member Bill Fields reminds us, that Great Barrington voters look not only to the school system’s $900,000 increase for GB but our own town expenses for ways to save money. And a quick look at our upcoming budget shows there are many town departments looking to make improvements, and town projects that need to be funded. The Police Department wants to consolidate duties and fund an administrative assistant. The fire chief needs a new car. We’ve got road repairs.
The problem is we’ve got a sluggish economy, and an aging population living on fixed incomes that aren’t keeping up with our tax increases. With rising costs for food, shelter, and fuel. Electricity rates, for example, are soaring.
So it’s also fair to suggest that now that we have officially withdrawn our previous proposal, we start fresh with the Massachusetts School Building Authority. To reengage the MSBA as quickly as possible with either a new application for Accelerated Repairs for the roof, boiler and windows of Monument Mountain Regional High School or with a new application to the Core Program for a set of more extensive renovations. A renovation that will be substantially more affordable than last time, designed to gain a significant MSBA reimbursement and attract majority support at the polls.
Both plans require a new strategic analysis and a more modest and focused Statement of Interest. An SOI that puts our need for improvements in the context of acknowledging the economic reality in South Berkshire and the plight of our taxpayers. A narrative to the state and taxpayers alike that while acknowledging that some of Monument’s physical plant needs work, stresses that we successfully graduated 95% of our students and created nationally-recognized programs like Project Sprout and Independent Learning.
I believe this is possible.
And want to thank David Long who has consistently advocated for a re-configured renovation plan. David Long, a Housatonic farmer, landscape designer, computer whiz and Monument parent, has suggested many specific ways to trim the $56/$51 million budgets. And in the past weeks he has reached out to the MSBA to learn how the district can best move forward.
He’s discovered several important things. First, it’s possible to use a local project manager and utilize local labor.
I suggested he call Allegrone Construction of Pittsfield. They have been hard at work here in Great Barrington renovating the Iredale Cosmetics headquarters at the former Bryant School. DCAMM certified for publicly financed projects up to $23 million, they have extensive experience with educational construction at Williams, MCLA, and Miss Hall’s. Their new $10 million long-term Pittsfield nursing facility employed more than 100 local subcontractors. I imagine they could easily gain certification for a more expensive project.
Great Barrington residents are well aware of the work Maxymillian Construction is doing with our downtown redevelopment. I’m guessing they, too, could supervise the renovation of Monument.
Second, there are concrete ways to scale back costs if we are willing to compromise. Let’s begin with the obvious strategic decision to look at this as a problem we can address over a longer period of time. To separate out the most pressing problems of the physical plant from the desired changes to improving the way education happens.
For example, if we’re willing to first tackle the roof that is failing; and a heating system and windows that are old and energy-inefficient we can duplicate the strategy our friends at SBRSD employed.
Or craft a more extensive SOI to the Core Program to address improvements in electrical and plumbing and technology systems and issues with lighting and interior spaces that could be spruced up.
Compromise because there are many complex issues to address in the district that will take significant time to resolve: how to equitably make decisions and share district costs, reforming the state’s archaic reimbursement for choice-in, and possible consolidation. And, of course, expanding interdisciplinary learning and vocational opportunities. While we deal with these complicated issues, let’s fix what’s most broken.