In 1958, the towns of Williamstown and Lanesborough signed a regional agreement, forming a partnership that allowed the two towns to join in building Mt. Greylock High School. The agreement lays out the rules that govern the school district and its financial policies. The towns revise the agreement at town meetings as often as necessary in order to account for changing populations and enrollment numbers. This year, as the school district is preparing for a major capital project, the new school building/renovation, the district is revising the agreement in order to modify the apportionment of funds.

At the moment, the agreement uses a five year rolling average of student enrollment from each of the towns to calculate the apportionment for the operating budget. However, capital projects such as the current proposed building, are apportioned to the two towns based on a fixed ratio at the time of bonding. According to Mark Schiek, the chair of the school building committee, “In an attempt to make the apportionment more equitable due to changing populations and enrollment numbers, the School Committee, responding to a request by the Town of Lanesborough, decided to propose altering the Regional Agreement to make capital project apportionment also based on a five year rolling average of student enrollment.” In order for the new changes to be included in the revised agreement, both towns will have to approve the proposed revisions. On November 17, Williamstown held its special town meeting to vote on the changes. Carrie Greene, a member of the school building committee reported that, “220 people checked in/registered to vote at the Special Town Meeting last night, though there were quite a few more people in attendance. The motion passed unanimously.” Lanesborough will hold its special town meeting on the 1st of December at 6:00 PM.

Image courtesy of iBerkshires.com.