HOLYOKE — The governor has spoken — after more than a decade under state control, the Holyoke Public Schools will officially exit receivership beginning July 1, a move that state and city officials are touting as a “proud day” for the Paper City but that its teachers union says fails to give them the power to negotiate.
The state took control of Holyoke’s schools in 2015, when it designated the city as a “chronically under-performing district,” due to low test scores and dropping attendance rates. But a steady reversal of these trends means the district will be in the hands of local educators, families, and under the governance of the School Committee for the first time in a decade starting next Tuesday.
“Holyoke has worked hard to regain local control of its schools, and this is a great moment for the city, students, educators and families,” Gov. Maura Healey said in making the announcement on Monday.
Expressing thanks to Mayor Joshua Garcia and local officials, she added, “I’m confident that they will continue to successfully move the district forward,” a district which serves some 4,800 students from preschool through grade 12.
Receivership, a controversial model, resulted in Holyoke’s School Committee being stripped of its decision-making powers, and in their place a state-designated person was given that authority. Two other communities, Lawrence and Southbridge, remain under receivership.
Holyoke will be the first municipality in the Bay State to exit receivership — an accomplishment Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said the city should take pride in.
Garcia, for his part, is doing just that.
“Our dedicated educators, resilient students, supportive families and engaged community have united to drive this success, reflecting our shared commitment to the bright future of our schools,” said Garcia, who chairs the School Committee.
According to state and city data, over the past decade Holyoke schools have seen improvements in the following areas:
■Graduation rates, which are up from 60.2% in 2014 to 77.1% in 2024. This includes a 32-point gain for English learners and a 31-point gain for students with disabilities over the same time period.
■Out-of-school suspension rates, which dropped from 20% in 2013-2014 to 9.8% in 2023-2024.
■Juniors and seniors completing advanced coursework is up from 39.5% in 2018 to 57% in 2024. There is also an increase in the percentage of Hispanic and Latino students in those grades completing advanced coursework, from 32.2% in 2018 to 54.6% in 2024.
■Growth in the district’s dual-language program, which serve more than 20% of students of all grades.
■Holyoke High School, which underwent a re-design for a more “personalized” entry to high school, as well as theme-based academies and career technical education pathways.
■Enrollment for technical fields. Technical education pathways are at full enrollment in the Holyoke High School Dean Campus since the 2021-22 school year, after nearly a decade of under-enrollment.
■Rezoning, which has split the district into separate elementary and middle schools, supported by the construction of a new middle school that is scheduled to open in this fall.
To exit receivership, Holyoke was told that in the months from October of 2024 to July of this year, the city had to complete a “Capacity Building Plan,” which included hiring and evaluating a superintendent, establishing budgeting and finances, and developing policy for the School Committee.
The committee signed a contract with Anthony Soto, who has been the district’s receiver since 2021, to serve as interim superintendent for the 2025-2026 school year.
The state’s Education Secretary and Interim Commissioner Patrick Tutwiler attended the School Committee’s Monday night meeting to officially announce the end of receivership, and on Tuesday afternoon Tutwiler and Garcia were in Everett to discuss the decision to state officials.
“While school improvement work will continue in Holyoke, it is time for local officials to take the lead,” said Tutwiler, adding that the district has a “strong foundation” that has been built over a decade.
However, Tutwiler laid out some of the conditions that will be in place as Holyoke regains independence. According to Tutwiler, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will continue to support and monitor the district’s progress under the terms of so-called exit assurances put in place to ensure that Holyoke stays on a positive trajectory.
These assurances keep in place select provisions of district’s Turnaround Plan for a transitional period of up to two years. They will guide the creation and implementation of an early literacy plan, ensure communication with families, implement policies related to the school calendar, and guide educator compensation and evaluations.
While many officials are elated at the news, teachers, who have been opposed to state control since receivership began, don’t think that receivership has actually ended.
Rather, they say it has simply taken a new form.
“This should be an enormous moment,” Max Page, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, said on Tuesday. “But it has been marred by leaving in the worst parts of receivership.”
According to the exit assurance plan, conversations regarding teacher pay, grievance procedures, and the school calendar, including the length of a school day, will all be under the authority of the district’s superintendent.
“These are the core features of working conditions,” said Nick Cream, president of the Holyoke Teachers Association and a teacher of ethnic studies at Dean Technical.
“It won’t be a genuine exit until these exit assurance are entirely gone,” he said.
Both Page and Cream underscored the vitality of being able to bargain on these issues, since the turnover rate among the district’s educators is roughly 30% yearly, they said.
“They just go to other districts, like Springfield, where they are able to bargain,” said Cream, noting that turnover has been also problematic under Southbridge’s receivership.
The turnovers spur additional difficulties. For one, said Page, Holyoke’s schools are predominantly young, first-time teachers, and the schools lack a vital veteran presence.
“Officials should have used the moment to say, ‘it’s a new day in Holyoke — good working conditions, good pay,’” said Page.
Page also noted that the Fair Share Amendment, which establishes a 4% surtax on individual income exceeding $1 million, has brought in billions more dollars than anticipated. Despite difficulties in access to federal funding, he said the state is equipped to pitch in.
“Here we are dealing with one of the poorest districts in the commonwealth, but there’s money for tech schools, education, for teachers to be paid fairly and treated professionally,” he said.
Samuel Gelinas can be reached at sgelinas@gazettenet.com.
