WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School District Transition Committee voted Thursday to approve a Sept. 6 start for classes in Grades 1 through 12.

 

The committee still does not have a full calendar to approve as the district continues negotiations with its union personnel, but Superintendent Kimberley Grady said she had been able to at least nail down the first day of school in order to give the district's families some certainty about when children will be returning to the classroom.

 

With a Sept. 6 start date, the final day of school — barring snow days — would be June 18, 2019.

 

With the inclusion of five potential snow days, the calendar would stretch to June 25, the same date when school is ending next month after a year that saw the district's three schools close for six snow days.

 

"[Sept. 6] is a little late," Transition Committee member Dan Caplinger said. "That's all I'll say."

 

Before voting 5-0-1 to approve the "late" start, the committee discussed the potential for a mid-year adjustment if snow days start to pile up: taking days out of the April vacation.

 

"I have heard from members of the community interest in contingency plans of using the April break," Caplinger said.

 

Grady said there was talk of taking such a step at Mount Greylock this year, but she wanted to confirm that the April days are not a negotiated part of the district's union contracts before saying whether that is a possibility.

 

The recently expanded PreK-12 district is in a longer than usual negotiating period as it aligns contracts for union personnel at its three buildings: Lanesborough Elementary, Williamstown Elementary and Mount Greylock Regional.

 

Grady had planned to come away from Thursday's meeting with a firm start date for all pupils in the district, but Transition Committee member Regina DiLego asked why the proposed calendar had different opening days for the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten programs.

 

While WES has traditionally opened those grades a week later, DiLego explained that Lanesborough, where she is chairwoman of the elementary school committee, has a unified schedule. Grady she will would look into the question and come back to the Transition Committee with a firm answer on the preK and kindergarten programs at its June 7 meeting.

 

Thursday's meeting also included a lengthy discussion of the district's staffing options for its assistant superintendent and director of pupil personnel services positions.

 

Grady reported that the search committee looking for an assistant superintendent of pupil services found no candidates it could recommend to go further in the hiring process.

 

With no viable options for a combined assistant superintendent/SPED director on the horizon, Grady sought the committee's permission to post the director of pupil personnel services job on its own.

 

Transition Committee member Al Terranova asked why the district was having trouble attracting candidates.

 

Both Grady and Bergeron suggested that the district may be perceived as having unique challenges — perhaps a holdover from the days when the three schools operated independently but shared central administration services under the Tri-District umbrella.

 

"We voted to become a region, but we have a lot of unfinished things," Grady said. "I think a year down the road when the dust settles, we might be in a different place. But when you search [online] for us, a lot comes up about us — good, bad and indifferent."

 

Bergeron agreed.

 

"We're still more of an adventure than a streamlined process, though we're getting there," he said. "I can't speak for potential candidates, but I imagine that might be an impediment."

 

The Transition Committee was able to resolve one staffing question, agreeing to accept a bid from The Management Solution of Auburn to continue supplying business management services to the district.

 

Mount Greylock posted a position for an in-house business manager while also issuing a request for proposals for outsourcing.

 

Grady reported that two individuals applied for the full-time position but neither was a good fit. TMS was the only respondent to the RFP, but the Transition Committee members appeared pleased that the district has the opportunity for continuity with the firm that helped guide the district through its transition year of melding three school budgets into one.

 

"My association with TMS on this committee and on the [finance] subcommittee has been positive," Terranova said.

 

"The sense I have is the relationship is pretty good," Caplinger added.

 

In other business on Thursday, the Transition Committee decided to allow the school's athletic director to go forward with a plan to create a unified sports basketball team.

 

Given the success of unified sports throughout the commonwealth and locally at Wahconah Regional High School, Lindsey von Holtz recommended starting the program at Mount Greylock to enable regular education and special education students to compete together.

 

Grady told the committee that there is money in the budget to fund the program, estimated to cost $3,500 to $4,000 per year.