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WRAFT holds panel discussion on city water
Hangar 2 at Barnes Regional Airport. (WNG file photo)
WTA gets $500k Skills Capital Grant By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD—The Westfield School Department received a $500,000 grant through the state yesterday to help improve a burgeoning program at Westfield Technical Academy (WTA). The Schools Department received the grant, called the Massachusetts Skills Capital Grant, through the Workforce Skills Cabinet, according to Westfield Schools Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski. The money will go toward working on the interior portion of hangar two located at Barnes Regional Airport, which is used for the Aviation Maintenance Technology program at WTA. “It was a lot of hard work on the side of the school department and grant writing to apply for this money,” Westfield Mayor Brian Sullivan said. “A lot of kudos to the superintendent
and his staff,” he added. The city also received this particular grant last year, according to Sullivan. The hangar is used by students to house airplanes and related technology but work has to be done outside by the students currently, according to Czaporowski. With the interior being renovated though, students will be able to work inside once finished. “We want it to be able to be used yearround,” Czaporowski said of the hangar. Czaporowski said that the grant money will go toward a number of interior components, which will make the hangar more hospitable. “We’re going to do the sprinkler system and heating system, probably some of the plumbing and electrical work,” he said. According to Czaporowski, the grant process was competitive, with 66 applicants pursuing the grants.
Previous work on the hangar, which was considered a historic building, included projects on the exterior. The funding for those projects came from grants, including $800,000 from the Community Preservation funds from the Community Preservation Committee. Work began toward the end of 2014 on the exterior and finished in April 2016. “We started this concept in 2014 and it’s now 2017,” Czaporowski said. “We have come this far.” The Federal Aviation Agency-certified Aviation Maintenance Technology program began in 2014, and according to Czaporowski 45 students are currently in the program, with that number going up to 60 next year. Czaporowski said that the demand for the program is high, with the demand for the program exceeding its capacity by four times.
Increasing collaboration apparent in Gateway School Committee discussion By AMY PORTER Correspondent HUNTINGTON – The Gateway Regional School Committee met Wednesday for a regular meeting that was not one of the joint budget meetings with the member towns, although some town representatives were in attendance, with the impact of the increasing dialogue and collaboration apparent throughout the discussion. Gateway Superintendent Dr. David B. Hopson spoke about the revised strategic improvement plan for the district, which he said was simpler than the first version and easier to follow. The plan reflects the challenges of how to provide an exemplary education with decreasing enrollment and financial constraints within the state and member towns. Among the obstacles listed are declining student enrollment, the aging of towns’ populations, the need for the district to have parity with salaries/benefits, decreased economic activities in towns, home schooled (including a large Mennonite population in the district), school choice, and charter schools garnering students. Competencies cited in the plan include the central location, updated facilities, great staff/student ratio, student opportunities to participate in athletics and other activities, students known by staff, business functions rated highly, high cost efficiencies, and highly rated in-school safety. One of the recommended actions is to hire a consulting firm to review district operations and to use the information for cost effective district sustainability. Collaboration with other districts, the towns, and regional organizations to support the sustainability of small districts is also in the plan. The potential for towns to regionalize their own services thus decreasing costs and for revenue growth with the help of Community Compact funding are noted as positives, as is the potential for increased state funding through the Rural School Initiative and sharing educational services with other school districts, all currently being studied by the district and the towns. Ultimately, the district seeks to increase school choice students coming in and entice home-school students back by increasing online class offerings, and promoting its low class sizes, 1 to 1 technology, great facilities and staff. More evidence at the meeting of the increasing dialogue
By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD—Residents were given information and advice from experts and others during a panel discussion related to the city’s water yesterday. What was billed as a fundamental, basic understanding, of the issues facing what some are concerned about Westfield’s water supply ended up being a more intensive chemical and science discussion. Westfield Residents Advocating For Themselves (WRAFT) held a PFAS Panel Discussion at North Middle School on Southampton Road Wednesday evening to provide residents with additional information regarding polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that were previously found to be in two city water wells. The panel included researchers discussing potential impacts of PFAS on humans, as well as information on what the community can do from members of Testing for Pease, a community action group who grappled with PFAS contamination in their community. “The issue Westfield faces is not unique to Westfield,” Ward One City Councilor and opening speaker at the event, said. “We know that more needs to be done to protect the future quality and quantity of our drinking water.” Those who spoke included Dr. Laurel Schaider, a research scientist for Silent Spring Institute, a researcher-led group “dedicated to science that serves the public interest,” according to their webpage, and focuses on environment and women’s health among their agenda, and who also leads Silent Spring’s Cape Cod water quality research. Also, Dr. Courtney Carignan, who is an environmental exposure scientist, epidemiologist and assistant professor in Food Science and Human Nutrition, See WRAFT, Page 3
The crowd at the PFAS Panel Discussion at North Middle School Wednesday evening.
The Gateway Regional School Committee met on Wednesday in Huntington. with member towns was reflected in a request from the towns to attend School Committee executive sessions on union negotiations which are set to begin for a new three year contract. Hopson clarified the request, saying they wouldn’t attend the negotiations themselves, but executive sessions that discussed them. He said there is one town representative, Dan Jacques of Montgomery, who is a part of the negotiating team. Huntington member Ron Damon said he would want to see a limit on how many townspeople attend the executive sessions, and also have the same representatives attend all the sessions. Aaron Welch of Huntington said he would support having each town send one representative. Lyndsey Papillon of Russell recommended sending a formal invitation to the towns to appoint someone as the representative. Huntington selectman Darlene McVeigh also recommended explaining in the invitation that whoever comes to the executive sessions, must not discuss them. School Committee chair Michele Crane of Russell said they could go back to their towns and hold an executive session, where they could discuss in broad terms the executive sessions of the School Committee. Melissa Nazzaro said the goal would be to have the towns see the process and the steps that are taken. She said transparency is easier if you’ve seen all the steps. Hopson said only the first date for union negotiations has been set, but he hopes to have more meeting dates in the near future. Damon and Welch both expressed interest in participating in the negotiations. Welch also reported on a Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) luncheon which he had attended. He said they spoke about trends and challenges facing schools over the next ten See Gateway, Page 3
Arrest made with ties to Southwick car break-ins By GREG FITZPATRICK Correspondent SOUTHWICK – Progress has been made with the investigation of the car break-ins that occurred on Sept. 19. According to Sgt. Det. Robert Landis, East Windsor Police arrested three individuals on October 3 for attempting to break into motor vehicles in town. It was then discovered that the three males had arrived to East Windsor in a stolen vehicle from Southwick. Nicholas Desorbo, 18, of Enfield, Conn., was in possession of that vehicle and is a key person of interest in the car break-ins in Southwick. Southwick Police are still completing the process of the arrest and charges are still pending on Desorbo. During the week of Sept. 18 the Southwick Police received multiple reports of car break-ins. Those incidents were reported to have occurred in the West section of town on streets off of main roads where there is not a lot of motor vehicle traffic, other than vehicles that live in those neighborhoods. It was also reported that all of the vehicles broken into had their doors unlocked and there were even some instances where the keys were left in the ignition. The suspected thieves have supposedly taken money, purses, credit cards, and electronic devices. Once official charges have been made, the Westfield News will continue to update this investigation.