My Experience on the School Board

by Corey Sprague

As the newest elected member to the Berkshire Hills Regional School Committee, I was asked to share my thoughts and impressions for the readers of Stockbridge Updates. While I am happy to give everyone a feel for the past year, I think right now, it is more important to make sure the residents of Stockbridge know how their voices can be heard.

Last November, I joined Jason St Peter and Sean Stephen as the third representative from Stockbridge. We are joined by others from Great Barrington and West Stockbridge, and it is a wonderful group of people. We are mothers, fathers, and grandfathers. We are lawyers, retired teachers, doctors, and nurses. We meet on average, twice a month (Thursdays at 6pm) and due to COVID, we now offer the option for the public to join in via Zoom. The agendas and live links to the Zoom calls can be found on the district calendar. The full calendar of meeting dates can be found here. Previously recorded sessions are online at CTSB Education. Over the past year our meetings have covered everything from COVID protocols, new district diversity initiatives, budget discussions and submitting our most recent application for state aid for the construction of a new high school.

Views of proposed school merger

There has not been much talk in our School Committee meetings of the proposed school merger since we are in the info-gathering and exploratory stages of this process. I certainly agree that finding ways to improve educational outcomes for our students while controlling costs for the towns is a worthwhile and important initiative. An 8 Town Regional School District Planning Board has been created and they have been running focus groups and conducting surveys. Please be sure to visit their website at www.rsdpb.org or www.8towns.org where you will find calendars for meetings, links to minutes and contact tabs to join mailing lists and to directly submit comments. We are here to represent you — whether it be the School Committee members, or the 8 Town research team so please get involved, stay involved and keep sharing your thoughts. Thank you!

Photo: Patrick White