Committee member Jose Constantine pointed to some dire national statistics about the effect of teaching in a remote or hybrid model and asked whether the Lanesborough-Williamstown schools were seeing similar consequences from the COVID-19 pandemic. While the major decision from the committee s last 2020 meeting was a move to address perceived physical education and co-curricular needs, students academic needs consumed more time during the 4 1/2-hour public portion of the virtual session. There is some data out there that suggests our K-2, K-3, early learners could be 22 months behind where they should be, he said. It s not that the pandemic has stalled their learning. They may have even regressed.
On a vote of 4-3, the committee decided to pay architect Perkins Eastman $44,000 to develop design documents that will allow the district to put the project out to bid this winter with the possibility of having a synthetic turf field in place as early as fall 2021. The vote does not commit the district to actually accept bids when they come back, but it almost certainly ensures that the district will issue a request for proposal for the project, which already went out to bid once but stalled when submissions were returned well over budget. I feel like if we move forward with Perkins Eastman, that s a pricey contract, Julia Bowen said during a protracted debate toward the end of a 4 1/2-hour meeting. I feel like we re in it [if we vote yes]. … Obviously, we don t have to take a bid that s way out of budget, but it is a big step.
WILLIAMSTOWN â A divided Mount Greylock Regional School Committee voted Tuesday to take the next step toward seeking new bids for the construction of an artificial turf multipurpose playing field.
In a 4-3 vote, the committee agreed to pay consultant Perkins Eastman to start evaluating the project and arrange to call for bids from contractors.
Four members of the committee initially considered the idea premature, citing unanswered questions, the projectâs cost, the need to address the effects of the coronavirus on the educational process, and environmental concerns.
WILLIAMSTOWN â I have a small bag of crumb rubber collected from the Christmas Brook end of a pipe that drains Williams College s artificial turf football/lacrosse field. Acting at the request â¦
On Tuesday, the School Committee settled on a format for a pair of special meetings to be held on Monday, Dec. 14, at 5 and 7 p.m. The 5 p.m. session will provide an opportunity for one hour of comments from community members who sign up in advance. At 7 p.m., the committee will hear two 15-minute presentations one for a synthetic field and one against followed by 30 minutes for School Committee members to ask questions of the invited presenters. The goal is to provide a sense of the pros and cons and the feelings of community members, particularly for the four members of the seven-person committee who joined in the last six weeks.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. Mount Greylock Regional School District officials are working to tweak a memorandum of understanding with the teachers union that allowed the opening of school in September, but it is too soon to say whether those talks will lead to a resumption of in-person instruction. Last week, Mount Greylock went to fully remote learning all three of its schools after the county s 14-day COVID-19 test positivity rate reached 3.01 percent, just north of the 3 percent threshold for remote learning in the September MOA. Superintendent Jason McCandless on Tuesday told the School Committee that he is not overly optimistic that metric will decline when the state Department of Public Health releases new numbers on Thursday evening.