May 12, 2015 Regional Schoo! Committee TO: FROM: Kathryn Mazur RE: Update - Exploration of Secondary Restructuring Options on the status of our work in considering options for This memorandum will serve as an update for you i rtunities for our students and our community. Last MMS/HS consolidation and establishing greater oppo! week a meeting was held with the following participants: Senator and Senate President Stan Rosenberg Representative Ellen Story Jan Klausner-Wise Present Bob Pura of Greenfield Community College 1, 2 3. 4 5, Sheryl Hruska, Chief Academic and Student Affairs Advisor, GCC 6, Leo Hwang, Dean of Humanities, GCC 7. Maria Geryk 8. Michael Mortis 9. Mark Jackson 10. Kathryn Mazur ing our government partners up to date on the educational and ‘and the opportunities such challenges might present. Our four iscussions informally and ‘The purpose of the meeting was to bri financial challenges faced in our Region ‘towns and the Regional School Committee membership are aware of many di: formally held about the possibility of closing the Middle School. Responsibly, and as our student population projection reflects continued decline, we took initial steps to determine the feasibility of consolidation. This remains a work in progress, and concurrently, we are considering how space at the MS might be repurposed. In March, we learned from Representative Story that Greenfield Community College has an interest in having a presence in Hampshire County. Asa result, we reached out to President Pura and had two initial meetings to discuss mutually beneficial opportunities, each of which brings great opportunity to our community. At last week's meeting, we were able to summarize our work to date (RSC memoranda of February 24, 2015 and April 10, 2015 update) and share with Senator Rosenberg and Representative Story an initial vision about the possibilities a collaboration with GCC might bring to the district. During and at the conclusion of the meeting, significant interest and support were expressed. Because we also need to engage our communities in such major decisions and future planning, we are considering working with the Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration to facilitate a Regional Revisioning Summit in early Fall. In preparation for a community Summit, an assessment phase will ‘occur during which on-line surveys and confidential telephone surveys will be developed in order to get a broad sense of community interests. A variety of community meetings and forums will be held leading to the Summit. Outcomes of this activity will inform our work going forward and help us to define the interests of our citizens, families, students and partners throughout our local communities.So you have a sna pshot ip wit Id soon bring using local space in the di of what opportunities a local partnership with GCC coul ict, the following are possibilities that can soon become realities: 1. Spring 2016 evening open enrollment courses for students and adults. Local workforce training 3 Collaboration withthe district Family Center to provide educational support to families + Expansion of the current dual enrollment program including the real possibility of offering on~ site, credit bearing college courses during the second semester of senior year at ARHS for 2017. Course enrollment could also include recent graduates of ARHS. Initially, three Task Forces will be developed: 1. Oversight Committee — Responsible for overseeing the work of all Committees associated with Possible MS/HS consolidation, vocational programming, MS repurposing, and Fall 2015 Revisioning Summit, and work on GCC Agreement. Report to RSC with recommendations by January 2016. 2. Educational impact Committee — Explores educational and student impact and opportunities created by MS/HS consolidation. Start times may also be considered. Recommendation to Oversight Committee by November 30, 2015. 3. Vocational/Technical Programming Committee — Initiates Chapter 74 application submission, permitting two current 74 compliant programs (Culinary Arts and Child Study), to achieve official DESE approval for implementation in September, 2016. This should occur with or without MS/HS consolidation in order to provide certification programs to our students. Recommendation to Oversight Committee by November 30, 2015. Will be tasked with exploring the possibility of future vocational offerings such as Hospitality, Agricultural Farm-to-Table, Health Care and Advanced Manufacturing/STEM/STEAM programming. supporting vocational programming in order to encourage multiple pathways for our students which can involve GCC in partnership with our district and with other local institutions of higher learning. Partnerships can include vocational programming leading to certification for ‘employment, Associates, Bachelors’ and Masters’ degrees with significantly reduced student costs. Each Task Force will be led by a school district administrator, and membership of these Task Forces will each include administration, teachers, and community members from our four towns, and it is our hope that representatives of the Regional School Committee will participate.