Font ResizeBy Malcolm Reid
Shirley School Superintendent
Last Saturday indeed was an important day for the entire Shirley community. In my column last week I asked the following questions: Do the citizens of Shirley want to again have great pride in their school system? Do the voters want a better school district that will take fewer future resources in order to provide more resources for other town services? Do the voters want to know that there is a vision in the town for the school district? Do the voters want to return needed dollars to the town instead of sending these dollars to other communities to educate Shirley students? Do the voters want to have educational control, with an equal number of School Committee members, over the programs of all pre-kindergarten to grade 12 students? With a vote of 508 to 161, these questions have been answered with a resounding "YES!"
When the vote was announced, the first thing that our business manager, Evan Katz, said to me was, "Now the hard work will begin." Merging two long-term independent school districts into one regional school district in 15 months will be both an exciting and challenging task. The best part is that we can continue to work with the community on educational and financial goals instead of politics.
A large number of people have worked diligently over the last three years to develop a vision that builds a regional school district that the communities of Shirley and Ayer can afford. This work was
There are too many people involved in this effort to thank everyone, but I would like to take this opportunity to recognize some of them. First, the amount of time, energy, and commitment of the Shirley Regional Study Committee (Bob Prescott, Theresa Richards, and Mike Swanton) was extraordinary. With their counterparts in Ayer (Tom Casey, Ted Januskiewicz, Pat Kelly, and Cheryl Simmons), this group made up the Regional Planning Board, and, with the leadership of Mike Swanton as the chair, they did a fantastic job. I would be remiss in not mentioning the incredible effort of Milree Keeling, who chaired the Regional Planning Board when Lunenburg was in the mix. Her amazing drive carried this effort for the first two years and that Board's work was instrumental in developing the Ayer-Shirley Regional Agreement that was supported on Saturday. The Regional Planning Board volunteers met many Tuesday evenings and even some Saturdays.
There are three other individuals who were instrumental in the success of building this region. One is George Frost, the interim superintendent in Ayer. He believed in this concept from his appointment in 2007 and provided invaluable guidance, documentation, and leadership throughout this process. As I have been a part-time superintendent this year, George carried more than his fair share of the load. During the first two years of this process, Loxi Calmes, superintendent in Lunenburg, provided the same kind of leadership, support and work ethic toward this project. The other individual I would like to recognize is Shirley Business Manager Evan Katz. He attended all the meetings and did a great amount of behind-the-scenes financial work to provide information for the Regional Planning Board.
Another group that made a difference in this process has been the Shirley School Committee (David Baumritter, Chair, Bob Prescott, Laura Saldana, Susan Therriault, and Paul Wilson). This Committee has been supportive from the beginning and has spent additional hours attending extra meetings to listen and to communicate their support.
We appreciate the interest and support of the Finance Committee, which was willing to discuss the finances and governance issues in a rational and analytical manner. I hope that Shirley can resume discussions between the School Committee, the Finance Committee and the selectmen that has been so successful in many communities as the Tri-Board group in Ayer. We need a similar Tri-Board group made up of representatives (not all of any one Board) of each of these three elected boards in town to meet on a regular basis to discuss: 1) the current fiscal year budget; 2) the next fiscal year budget; and 3) develop a continually evolving five-year vision for the town's resources.
I also want to thank Sen. Jamie Eldridge, Rep. Jen Benson, and Rep. Bob Hargraves for their continued support in this process. It was based on their efforts that Gov. Patrick has committed $300,000 of federal stimulus funds to support the next fifteen month transition period.
Another group that needs to be recognized is the Shirley School District staff. My fellow Leadership Team members (Business Manager Evan Katz; Director of Special Education/Early Childhood and Grants Teri Babetski; LAW Principal Suzanne Mahoney; SMS Principal Brian Haas; and Technology Systems Administrator Deb Cutter) have provided support and guidance during this entire process. Our teachers and support staff have been patiently awaiting the outcome of this process not knowing their job status and possible location of employment. I appreciate their patience and understanding and look forward to resolving these questions in the near future.
And last, but certainly not least, are the many Shirley citizens who did the work to answer the questions that I raised above. They communicated the interests of the vast majority of Shirley citizens who want to regain the pride in the community and school system. They pursued a grand vision for our schools and the town. Thank you to those of you who made phone calls, talked with your neighbors, and did a wide variety of things to make this happen.
It was a great day for the future of Shirley. It is time for a short celebration and then we must roll up our sleeves and bring our new regional school district to life.
