Barbara Davis, candidate for re-election to the school committee, said, “Some candidates for the school committee have been promoting the subject of regionalization as if it were a new idea. Since the 1970s, Holbrook has debated the issue of regionalization versus building a new school. It is extremely important to have all the facts before making a decision of that magnitude.
"A committee to investigate the feasibility of setting up a rgional planning board with Abington was set up at the request of the Massachusetts School Building Authority last spring. This committee consisted of the superintendents and business managers of both districts and school committee members from both towns, as well as several other representatives.
“After several months of meetings and the information gathered and discussed in great detail, the committee found the following: a 9-12 regional district would have increased start-up costs due to legal requirements under Chapter 71, Section 42B for such things as teacher salaries and benefits which would have to be negotiated with the new district and increases in transportation because we do not provide bus transportation at that level.
“In addition, in a regional school district, if Holbrook is the smaller district, it would have less of a say in the running of the new regional district and in the proposed budget for the new district. As an example of how this would work, just look at the Blue Hills Regional budget when it comes before Town Meeting every year. Once the regional budget is allocated, whatever is left over is what would be available to the K-8 district. Can Holbrook afford another fixed cost?
“This cost does not include two key issues for Holbrook: the continued issue of a need for a new building and additional staff for Grades 7-8 because of staff shared between the junior high and senior high schools. These costs also do not factor in that Holbrook would lose over $1 million in Chapter 70 education money for these students and that money would go directly to the regional district.
“Without incentives from the state, this seemed too great a burden to place on the taxpayers of Holbrook at this time. It is possible that regionalizing the high school could, in the future, be the best solution for declining enrollments in Holbrook. The committee did not think the potential benefits outweighed the large initial costs to the taxpayers and voted last Nov. 9 to accept the Joint Abington-Holbrook Regionalization Study Committee report as well as the recommendation to not regionalize at this time.
“I have been the chairperson of the school committee for two years. In that time, the committee has done more than any board to solve this issue. As a community, we have discussed this since the 1970s. I will keep all our options open and continue to look at these possibilities with an open mind.
“In the meantime, we need to provide the public school students of Holbrook with a quality education, which means supporting the schools at an appropriate level, as required by law.
“I want the Holbrook public schools to be moving forward to provide our students with a world-class education. I am the candidate with the qualifications and commitment to do so.
“To find out how you can help, contact Campaign Manager Alex Mann at alexandermann@yahoo.com or myself at barbarapdavis@gmail.com.”
1 comment:
Thanks, Pat!
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