Editor's note: Complete write-thru at 3:42, on April 3, 2018. Several pages were missing from the report given to iBerkshires on Monday and corrections have been made in the article to reflect new information. The full report can be found at the bottom of the article.
CHESHIRE, Mass. — Adams-Cheshire Regional School Committee members were "underwhelmed" by a seven-page report that outlined some benefits and concerns over sharing a superintendent with North Adams, but it was enough for them to desire talks with their city counterpart.
After quickly reviewing the District Management Group Shared Superintendent Feasibility Study on Monday, the committee asked to hash out the prospect of a shared administrator further with North Adams.
"No one has really talked, and we haven't had the opportunity to sit down and chat and have an open discussion," Superintendent Robert Putnam said. "I think we can improve everybody's understanding."
Putnam last year announced his retirement at the end of this school year, prompting a search committee to be formed.
The committee agreed to also look at the option of sharing a superintendent with another school district and the North Adams School Committee voted in February to fast-track part of a two-year feasibility study to look specifically at how a shared superintendent, presumably North Adams' Barbara Malkas, might work.
Adams-Cheshire is continuing its superintendent search process alongside this study.
The report outlined some benefits that include strengthening leadership and administrator teams, increasing grant opportunities and reallocating funds toward other priorities, aligning curriculums and sharing specialized services and administrators.
It also mentioned some hurdles and possible mitigations, noting that many stakeholders felt the transition would be irreversible and suggesting that a trial period could be implemented to quell this concern.
Also, the report stated that some stakeholders felt that this direction has not been clearly communicated to them and recommended that all stakeholders clearly informed. The report went on to say that a clear vision for the future of the district needs to be created and shared with the communities, families and students.
It also touched on the significant differences in governance between regional school committee representing two towns and a city school committee whose chairman is the mayor.
"While these differences in governance structures cause additional complexity and a challenge to address, shared superintendents have been in place for decades often including three or more different school committees and governing structures in New England," the report states, using the North Berkshire School Union as an example.
In the school union, Superintendent Jonathan Lev reports to four elementary school committees and a supervisory union committee. However, the makeup of those schools and committee are very similar and very small. Williamstown-Lanesborough schools, on the other hand, ran into difficulties when the regional high school and its two sending schools began sharing administrative staff. They are currently transitioning to a K-12 regional district in part to smooth out those governance problems.
Stakeholders did raise a "pervasive" concern that a shared superintendent would not be able to give both districts the required attention, and that Adams-Cheshire would be most likely to be short-changed. Building trust and setting clear expectations would help to mitigate those concerns, the report states.
"Significant benefits have been identified and thoughtful concerns have been raised," the report's summary reads. "It appears that all of the concerns, however, can be mitigated by thoughtful planning and setting of clear expectations."
Chairman Paul Butler said that he wished the report had more information and did not feel comfortable immediately making a decision.
"I guess I was a little underwhelmed with the contents of the report to be coy," he said. "I think the amount of time we had to look at this has been substantially limited."
A representative from the teachers' association said the union does not have a formal statement on the issue at this time but that teachers have felt out of the loop and that things were moving too quickly.
School Committee member Stephen Vigna agreed and suggested the committee solicit input from teachers, administrators, and community members.
"I think we are limiting this to the School Committee and I think it would be beneficial to get some quick input from the stakeholders," he said. "We want to make sure their concerns are heard."
Butler asked the association president to provide some input before the meeting with North Adams.
Vigna said he thought the School Committee should take the time to look at other options and possibly consider sharing a superintendent with the Berkshire Arts & Technology Public Charter School in Adams. (Vigna says he misspoke and meant North Adams Public Schools.)
The superintendent search committee has already conducted five interviews. Vigna said the plan is to bring final applicants for the School Committee to interview. He said he feared if they move too quickly into an agreement with North Adams, they could miss some good candidates.
School Committee member Darlene Rodowicz agreed but suggested they make a decision before conducting these final interviews.
Butler said a conversation with North Adams officials may reveal some of their concerns and allow an opportunity to look at other ways the two could possibly collaborate.
"At the very least, I think we owe it to ourselves and the city of North Adams to sit down with them in public session and see if, in fact, this will work and that both parties are comfortable," he said.
He added that if the two school districts decide to not share the superintendent this year, it does not mean they have abandoned the idea.
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A Rare Bird: Koperniak Stands Out in Triple-A
By Frank MurtaughThe Memphis (Tenn.) Flyer
With Major League Baseball’s September roster expansion just around the corner, Berkshire County baseball fans will be watching to see whether 2016 Hoosac Valley High School graduate Matt Koperniak gets the call from the St. Louis Cardinals. Heading into Tuesday night’s action, Koperniak had 125 hits this summer for the Cards’ Triple A affiliate, the Memphis (Tenn.) Redbirds. He is hitting .309 this season with 17 home runs. In his minor league career, he has a .297 batting average with 56 homers after being signed as a free agent by St. Louis out of Trinity College in 2020. This week, sportswriter Frank Murtaugh of the Memphis Flyer profiled Koperniak for that publication. Murtaugh’s story appears here with the Flyer’s permission.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- I’ve interviewed professional baseball players for more than two decades. There are talented players who, honestly, aren’t that interesting away from the diamond. They’re good ballplayers, and baseball is what they know. There are also very interesting baseball players who aren’t all that talented. Now and then, though, you find yourself in the home team’s dugout at AutoZone Park with a very good baseball player who has a very interesting story to share. Like the Memphis Redbirds’ top hitter this season, outfielder Matt Koperniak.
That story? It began on Feb. 8, 1998, when Koperniak was born in London. (Koperniak played for Great Britain in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.) “My dad was in the military,” explains Koperniak. “He was in Italy for a bit, then England. But I have no memories of that time.” Matt and his family moved back to the States — to Adams, Mass. — before his third birthday.
Koperniak played collegiately at Division III Trinity College in Connecticut, part of the New England Small College Athletic Conference. He hit .394 as a junior in 2019, but beating up on the likes of Tufts and Wesleyan doesn’t typically catch the eye of major-league scouts. When the coronavirus pandemic wiped out his senior season, Koperniak received an extra year of eligibility but, having graduated with a degree in biology, he chose to sign as a free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.
“I’ve always loved baseball,” says Koperniak, “and it’s helped me get places, including a good school. My advisor — agent now — was able to get me into pro ball, so here we are.” He played in a few showcases as well as for the North Adams SteepleCats in the New England Collegiate Baseball League, enough to convince a Cardinal scout he was worth that free agent offer.
The Redbirds hosted Memphis Red Sox Night on Aug. 10, the home team taking the field in commemorative uniforms honoring the Bluff City’s Negro Leagues team of the 1930s and ’40s. Luken Baker (the franchise’s all-time home run leader) and Jordan Walker (the team’s top-ranked prospect) each slammed home runs in a Memphis win over Gwinnett, but by the final out it had become Matt Koperniak Night at AutoZone Park. He drilled a home run, a triple, and a single, falling merely a double shy of hitting for the cycle. It was perfectly Koperniak: Outstanding baseball blended into others’ eye-catching heroics.
“It’s trying to do the little things right,” he emphasizes, “and being a competitor. The Cardinals do a great job of getting us to play well-rounded baseball. Everybody has the same mindset: How can I help win the next game? You gotta stay in attack mode to be productive.”
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