regional school district
November 29, 2007
It can be interesting to see how government operates. Every entity – whether municipal town leadership or regional school leadership – has its own way of bringing issues forward and creating pathways towards solutions. Just over the past several days, note the following:
In Bridgewater, the Board of Selectmen had a Fall Special Town Meeting Article to de-Regionalize Bridgewater-Raynham Schools. On the floor of Town Meeting, they withdrew the Article because most of the community was concerned and discouraged that the Selectmen had not brought forth any information to substantiate the request. The Bridgewater Selectmen then made statements that they intended to bring the de-Regionalization question before the Town in April at a ballot (which I still question the legality of) and that they would put together a Study of B-R Schools. At Tuesday’s Selectmen Meeting, Chair Mark Oliari moved forward the issue of the Study, but stated that he alone will choose the members. When a question arose about if the Study Committee could complete its work in time for April, Selectman Kravitz stated that the de-Regionalization question should still go before the Town even if the study work is not completed. Ultimately, by a 2 in favor (Mark, Stan) to 2 opposed (Dennis, Chris) the Study Committee as proposed by Mark was not approved.
In Raynham, the Board of Selectmen sent a letter to Senator Marc Pacheco, Representative David Flynn and member of the B-R High Building Committee to thank them for all of the hard work in “making the new high school a reality”. The letter was precipitated by a planned ceremony at the new High School on November 28th. Setting aside any differences, the Raynham Selectmen wanted to express their appreciation to the many who have worked on the High School Project.
Also in Raynham, the Selectmen voted to request a review of the Regional School Agreement. Raynham Selectmen Chair John Donahue attended the 11/28 B-R School Committee Meeting to explain some of the issues that should be considered and reviewed within the Agreement – new buildings not referenced, buildings no longer in use, disposition of ‘regional’ assets (the old high school), formula for budget breakdown.
At the Wednesday Bridgewater-Raynham School Committee Meeting, an agenda item was discussed relative to concerns about the Regional Agreement and other issues of importance to the two towns. After a short discussion, it was unanimously agreed that the B-R School Committee would form a group to begin the process of understanding the issues and concerns. B-R Chair Gordon Luciano and Vice-Chair Joseph Gillis will serve along with representatives from each Board of Selectmen. Letters should be going out shortly to request that each Town Selectmen Board appoint one individual to this task. The first tasks being to create some ground rules for discussions, and then to assemble a prioritized listing of issues and matters that we all need to work together to resolve.
Isn’t that the way government should work? Respectful correspondence, discussion, and (where needed) groups for further review.
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