Hilltown Schools Consider Major Merge

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By Matthew Campbell

Story Published: Sep 23, 2009 at 11:49 PM EDT

Story Updated: Sep 23, 2009 at 11:49 PM EDT

As some severe budget cuts are in the forecast, the Gateway Regional School District is buckling down. One cost-saving solution is to consolidate several elementary schools.

The hilltowns came together on Wednesday night. Tough decisions no one wants to make were on the table and the clock is ticking.

By December, the Gateway Regional School District will know if three of their five elementary schools will close.

"At one point the state used to pay for 60 percent of the cost of educating Gateway's students and the towns picked up the other 40 percent. Now, it's reversed," said Gateway School District media contact Wendy Long.

Gateway encompasses the communities of Blandford, Russell, Worthington, Huntington, Chester, Middlefield and Montgomery.

After looking at some early projected numbers from Beacon Hill, the district is staring down a possible mega-consolidation. Two schools would cover the seven towns.

That's sparking a huge power struggle. Each town doesn't want to see their children shipped off.

"People feel it's a loss to the community as a focal point," said Margaret Don-Diego, a parent from Worthington.

It is a decision some say has already been made. School administrators say two schools are outshining the rest: Huntington's Littleville and Chester.

"There's enough capacity in the schools to hold all the students and second, those two buildings are owned by the districts and built several years ago," Long said.

To some, it is a logistical and cost saving choice. The only other option is to bite the bullet and keep all five schools open. Seventeen school committee members will be taking that vote on Dec. 9.

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angel20 said on Thursday, Sep 24 at 7:27 AM

Its a tragic time for gateway schools....and unfortunatly the leadership in the supers office is sadly lacking. That is a Huge component of these incidents. a more competent leadership would have made all the difference. Now its our children who suffer.

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