In response to the May 10 editorial, “Let Cummington off the hook for school project,” there are a few things that need to be mentioned.

Although the town did vote to leave the Central Berkshire Regional School District in 2015, not all townspeople support this. There are still 26 students being educated by the district and these families support the new high school project.

As a 25-year resident of town, I feel that both sides of the Cummington and Central Berkshire Regional School District issue need to be brought to light. There has been far more attention given to those that decided to leave the district than to those of us who support the district.

As far as Cummington “being on the hook” for 30 years, that is a misconception. Cummington is assessed yearly for capital projects based on Oct. 1 enrollment of the previous fiscal year. In other words, if in five years Cummington has no students attending the high school then there would be no assessment or cost to the town for the new high school.

The argument made by those that choose not to send their children to schools in the district that it’s a burden to transport their children to other schools is not valid in my opinion.

For one thing the key word here is “choice.” These parents choose to send their children elsewhere and part of that choice involves transportation.

The argument that the town isn’t in Berkshire County so why are we sending our kids there isn’t valid either. Cummington has been a member town of the Central Berkshire district since the inception of the regional school district in January of 1958. When these parents purchased homes and moved to town they were aware that the middle and high school is in Dalton. If they were unaware then apparently not enough research was done prior to moving to town.

The district currently provides education services and transportation to its schools. The ad-hoc committee from its beginning never had representation from those of us who chose to support the Central Berkshire district. It seems that there was an agenda and a definite resentment towards the district.

While I was disappointed in the closing of Berkshire Trail Elementary in 2015 as well, I am able to understand the reasons behind the decision. Decreased enrollment, some due in part to the many parents in town home schooling their children and also sending their children to charter schools was a significant factor.

Some of us have children that were already attending both middle and high school and chose not to disrupt their education. We feel that Central Berkshire provides a quality education and there are connections with Cummington. The high school principal, as well as the elementary school assistant principal, are Cummington natives.

In closing, it should be noted that not every parent of school-aged children in Cummington supports leaving the district and we are pleased to be able to have a brand new high school to send our children to.

Todd Emerson

Cummington