PUBLISHED BY REMINDER PUBLISHING
APRIL 9, 2026 | FREE
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EDITION SOUTHWICK
Sheriff’s Department to halt Congamond Lake patrols Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi announced on March 25 the commonwealth was witholding $26 million in funding.
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Winter of 2025-26 may go down as Southwick’s costliest The cost of keeping the roads clear of snow and ice will go down as the costliest in at least a decade.
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WESTFIELD
Superintendent: reentry facility will have negative impact Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski recently sent a letter to families addressing proactive steps that the Westfield Public School District is taking in the event that a plan to open a reentry facility at 182/184 Southampton Road moves forward.
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Council OKs next step toward new WTA By Amy Porter
aporter@thereminder.com
WESTFIELD — The City Council voted 12-0 on April 2 to approve the submission of a statement of interest to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for a new Westfield Technical Academy building, with one councilor, Nicholas Morganelli, Jr., absent. Westfield School Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski said the district is not going forward with its earlier plan to build a comprehensive school incorporating both high schools. “Our plan shifted after the significant investments made at Westfield High School over the last 18 months,” he said. During public participation before the council discussion, WTA aviation students Kiera Jacquier and Skylar Emmelman promoted a new building. They said they had spent the past few days looking at the problems in the facility. “In the winters, it is very, very cold; we have to layer up. In the summers, there is no AC.” They listed limited access to bathrooms, toilets that are not usable, poor supplies and sink spouts barely working. The students said in a lot of the walls, there are large holes that can’t be painted over and are falling apart. The ceilings leak, and there are buckets in the hallway, missing ceiling tiles and chunks missing in the floor. Other failings include a limited number of electrical outlets throughout many of the classrooms and shops, a ceiling too low in the gymnasium for volleyball and elevators that shut down. “Overall, the school is fall-
ing apart; we want to see it grow in the future,” said Jacquier and Emmelman. School Committee member Kathleen Hillman implored the Council to vote for the SOI. “Our students deserve a good, healthy place to work. We have beautiful programs; they deserve a good building too,” she said. Jeffrey Amanti, vice president of Advance Manufacturing and chair of the WTA Advisory Committee, said WTA is known as one of the best trade schools in the state, with nationally recognized top-of-the-line programs. He talked about the manufacturing shop’s relevance, noting that aircraft and missile guidance components the students built are being deployed to the Middle East right now. “These students need a school and a facility to match the abilities they have there. They need a facility to match their skills, then the sky is the limit for these talented students,” Amanti said. Councilor Ralph Figy read two letters he had received into the public comment; the first from Tina Gorman, special project coordinator and past director for Council on Aging, who said she hoped the council would seriously consider the request. “As the former director, I know all too well the process from the need of a new building to groundbreaking. In my 20 years at the COA, I had the privilege of successfully coordinating with programs at WTA,” Gorman wrote, citing her work with electrical wiring, graphic arts, culinary arts, horticulture and Allied Health. “The students and faculty do an
WTA aviation students Skylar Emmelman and Kiera Jacquier make the case for a new building for Westfield Technical Academy. Photo credit: Westfield Community TV
amazing job in a less-than-ideal educational environment. We can do so much more, just as we did at the Senior Center,” Gorman said. Resident Ephraim Luna also sent an email that was read into the record by Figy. He questioned the transparency of the SOI for a new technical school and whether it was actually for a new comprehensive school. Luna referred to Westfield’s tax increase of 6.5% last year, added to increases in trash disposal and water, among other services. “Let’s be rational and base this presentation on rational numbers,” Luna wrote, asking, “Is the SOI for a new technical academy or a new comprehensive school.” During his presentation before the vote, Czaporowski began by addressing the question. “To
be clear, this SOI is for Westfield Technical Academy. Given the work happening with Westfield High School and other things, it would not make sense to do a larger school,” Czaporowski said. He told the Council that the request must be submitted to the Massachusetts School Building Authority by April 17, and the Council must vote to approve the project before submission. “Once selected, we will need funding for a feasibility study, and then it will go to the ballot,” he said. “We have a building that’s aging poorly at this point,” Czaporowski said. The upper campus was built in 1931, the lower campus in 1962, and the connector in 1994, which he said was in the worst See MSBA on page 4