Union, Mount Greylock Finalize Agreement for Shared Superintendent

By Patrick RonaniBerkshires Staff
02:00PM / Saturday, July 03, 2010Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — School Union 71 and the Mount Greylock Regional School District finalized their agreement with sharing Superintendent Rose P. Ellis on Friday morning.

Ellis is now the superintendent of the high and middle schools, in addition to her current leadership post with Lanesborough and Williamstown elementary schools. She signed a three-year contract and will receive a 9.2 percent increase in salary in her first year — from $135,800 to $147,000. Her salary will increase 3 percent each additional year of the agreement.

Regina Dilego, chairman of the Union 71 School Committee, said that, as part of the agreement, Ellis took a decrease in her district travel expenses.

She will move her office location from Williamstown Elementary School to Mount Greylock Regional High School, which will be her central location for the first year of the contract.

"Rose is very excited now that it's finalized," said Dilego. "She can start moving forward. She spent [Friday] packing some of her things to make the move to Mount Greylock. She met with the staff at the high school [Thursday]."

The administrative cost-share plan will be beneficial to all three schools, Dilego said. In superintendent costs alone, Dilego projected the savings will be about $17,000 for Lanesborough Elementary, $30,000 for Williamstown Elementary and $60,000 for Mount Greylock.

Ellis will be primarily working out of Mount Greylock during the next year, in order to, in the words of Greylock School Committee Chairman David Archibald, "come up to speed" with the high school's proceedings. Dilego said Ellis will be available to the elementary schools if any "situation arises" that requires her services.

"Rose is a known entity at the elementary schools. The kids know her," Dilego said. "So when the kids get to the high school, they've got a face they already know."

As part of the administrative agreement between the union and the district, three other positions will be shared: business manager, administrative assistant and special education coordinator. The business manager is slated to be Jennifer Coscia, who currently holds that title at Williamstown Elementary School. Lynne Sadlowski, the executive secretary at WES, has been pegged to be the administrative assistant. Ellis is in negotiations to finalize both of those positions.

Dilego said an advertisement was recently posted for the special education coordinator position.

She also said there are plans to streamline the school committee meetings by scheduling sessions with both the union and district committees present.

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Fitch, Barrett Meet in Debate for State Representative Seat

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:17AM / Friday, August 14, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The two candidates for the Democratic nomination to represent the First Berkshire District on Beacon Hill found a lot of common ground Thursday on some issues but differed on what is needed to get things done in their only scheduled debate leading up to the Sept. 1 primary election.

The incumbent, John Barrett III, and Andrew Fitch, a North Adams city councilor, met in a theater at Williams College's Paresky Center in a forum sponsored by the town's chapter of the League of Women Voters, fielding questions submitted by the public and posed by moderator Jennifer Howlett for just less than an hour.

The pair agreed at least in part on issues ranging from same-day voter registration to assisted suicide to the statewide ballot initiative to repeal the legalization of cannabis in the commonwealth.

But they parted ways when asked whether they would support efforts to institute a single ballot primary and whether the current Legislature has been responsive enough to respond to a 2024 ballot initiative to have the state auditor audit the House and Senate.

Barrett argued that the Legislature already conducts audits and puts the results on the state's website. He further pointed to a lawsuit brought by Auditor Diana DiZoglio over the issue.

"She went to court, and the court asked her, are these the four things you wanted [from an audit], and she said yes," Barrett said. "We gave her legislation that gave her the four things she wanted."

Calling himself a "big fan of audits," Barrett argued that he participated in them as mayor of North Adams for 26 years. He called efforts to have the state auditor conduct the audit of the Legislature a "Republican thing" and a "sad game."

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