Hawley E-News: Dugway Listening Session and More
PLEASE Come to the Dugway Listening Session.
As most of you know by now, everyone in town (including non-voters!) is invited to a discussion about the future of the Dugway this Wednesday, May 29, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Town Office on Pudding Hollow Road. This is a first, necessary step in the very long road of getting the state to help us repair this dangerous stretch of roadway. Please come if you can. The food should be delicious! If you can’t come, please fill out the survey mentioned in the flyer below.
Many thanks to the Franklin Regional Council of Governments for helping the town organize this project—and to the many townspeople who are donating to the community meal: Peter Beck, Will Cosby, Lloyd Crawford, Hussain Hamdan, Bob MacLean, Lorraine McCarthy, Kimberly Orzechowski, Jenn Rich, Robert Sears, and Hawley’s Firefighters. (I, too, plan to bring along a little food.)
If we get torrential rain, I’ll send out a bulletin on Wednesday letting you know where to go. If you don’t hear from me that afternoon, I’ll see you at the Town Office at 6.
Tick Season Has Arrived.
The flyer below, from our County Board of Health, should help residents deal with these nasty insects.
About Our Cemeteries
The Selectmen were recently informed that someone had removed flowers from the grave of a recently buried Hawleyite. PLEASE keep your eyes open for such vandalism, and report it if you see it. It shows a lack of respect and empathy not just for the dead but also for their family members and friends.
School Sustainability Study
This update comes from the group working on the study:
MAY 24, 2024 — Berkshire Educational Resources K12 (BERK12), in partnership with the 2districts8towns Steering Committee, continues to gather input from community members for an ongoing study and analysis of the operating and organizational structure of the Mohawk Trail and Hawlemont regional school districts. The 2districts8towns Sustainability Study encompasses the towns of Ashfield, Buckland, Charlemont, Colrain, Hawley, Heath, Plainfield, and Shelburne.
In the first stage of work (February through April), the BERK12 team met with local select boards, town administrators, and legislators to brief them on the project, answer questions, and solicit their thoughts. Community engagement sessions were held at each of the district’s schools to provide an opportunity for families and community members to engage with the research team. Information sessions were also held with the district’s faculty/staff, union leaders, and the Rowe School Committee. We thank all those who participated (over 300 individuals)!
Outreach work continues to move forward as we launch three comprehensive surveys: 1) a survey of families who reside in the 8 towns but do not attend the Hawlemont or Mohawk Trail schools has been completed, 2) a survey of faculty/staff and students will be electronically administered at Mohawk Trail Regional School after Memorial Day, and 3) a community and family/caregiver survey will be electronically administered after Memorial Day and is available HERE. Residents of the district towns will receive a direct mailing notice with the survey link. For this work to be successful, we need your help – your ideas are critical to assuring the educational and operational future of the Districts. We encourage your participation!
The first stage of BERK12’s work has also included developing baseline reports on the historical and current status of the district across various domains (enrollment, educational programming, facilities, & finance). BERK12 has recently released three draft reports for the Steering Committee and public to review including:
- Enrollment report: historical and projected enrollment trends by district, school, & town; patterns of student migration in/out of the district; and class size.
- Historical Review:look back at district formation, historical studies, state efforts around regionalization and rural issues, and best practices (nationally) in rural education.
- Regional Agreement analysis:a side-by-side look at the Hawlemont & Mohawk Trail regional agreements.
These reports are accessible on 2districts8towns.org under the RESOURCES tab.
The Steering Committee has a busy couple of months ahead. Advisory teams in the areas of community outreach, educational quality, finance, and facilities have been organized to help guide the BERK12 research team in its research and analysis. Additionally, the Steering Committee has set its next five meetings into July to review reports and examine and evaluate potential options and opportunities. Steering Committee minutes and presentations by the Project Manager are posted and available on the website under RESOURCES. Members of the public are welcome to attend Steering Committee meetings either in person at Mohawk Trail Regional School (superintendent’s conference room) or virtually by accessing the meeting agenda posted on the website (2districts8towns.org).
Community members are always encouraged to submit questions or comments through the CONTACT link on the website….or for those just becoming familiar with the Sustainability Study, a one page project overview is available HERE as a good place to start.
For more information, contact project manager H. Jake Eberwein, jakeeberwein@gmail.com.
Finally … Memorial Day.
Although summer won’t officially arrive until June 20, this weekend is the unofficial start of that glorious season of sunshine and fun. I hope you all have some time with family and/or friends this Memorial Day. And please take a moment to remember the service of those who died serving in this country’s wars.
Warmly,
Tinky
Tinky Weisblat
Gal Friday
Town of Hawley
