CUMMINGTON — The town has called a special Town Meeting for Thursday to consider an article that seeks, for the second time, to update a revised agreement between the seven-member communities of the Central Berkshire Regional School District.
The town’s 700 registered voters will consider five other article at the meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. in the Community House.
“Cummington holds regular (its) Town Meeting before state budgets are rolled out,” said Denise Banister, executive assistant to the Select Board. Now that the numbers are in, “this is end of the year cleanup, plus the amendment on the school district.”
Last year, Town Meeting voters rejected the revised school district agreement, which hasn’t been updated since 1992, and has also not been approved by the Massachusetts Department of Education.
The Central Berkshire Regional Agreement Ad Hoc Committee has been spearheading the revised agreements. Member Maureen Tumenas summarized the agreement’s impact saying, “it would bring us up to date with state law.”
Among the updates to the new agreement outlined in Article 3, the proposed draft would:
■Clearly lay out each of the member town’s budgetary obligations, especially concerning Other Post-Employment Benefits and pension liabilities. For instance, in the event a town joins or leaves the school district, the towns would be required to pay these benefits.
■Provide for two pathways for towns that may choose to withdraw at some point in the future.
■Allow for future changes to made to the agreement on a regular basis.
According to Tumenas, the new agreement was rejected in Cummington last year due to frustrations with the voting process, since it was taken as a “per person” vote. When this happens, she said, it means Dalton, geographically the largest school district in the state, has all the voting leverage due to its higher population.
But this year the vote will be a community total vote, with all seven communities — Becket, Cummington, Dalton, Hinsdale, Peru, Washington, and Windsor — given equal representation. To pass, six of the seven towns must approve.
Hinsdale already voted no this spring, so if Cummington decides to vote no for a second year, the new agreement would be vetoed and rejected.
Encouraging residents to vote yes, Tumenas said, “We really have to have an up to date agreement.”
The other articles concern the transfer of funds.
Article 1 asks for approval to transfer a sum of money from the Water Commission retained earnings account to the Water Commission stabilization account, while Article 2 will ask residents to approve transferring a sum of money from free cash to the stabilization account.
Article 4 is asking the town to pay a line item that has yet to be paid from fiscal 2024, totaling $9,378. Funds would be taken from MLP/Broadband Retained Earnings. Article 5, meanwhile, seeks to transfer funds from the MLP/Broadband Retained Earnings to the town’s stabilization account.
Article 6 asks whether the town will appropriate or transfer from stabilization a sum of money for legal services.
Samuel Gelinas can be reached at sgelinas@gazettenet.com.
