DALTON, Mass. — After an outcry of concern from residents in several small towns in the Central Berkshire Regional School District, the district will investigate how to adjust its proposed update of the regional agreement. 

 

The district has been functioning without an approved regional agreement since 1968. The agreement was updated in 1997 but received approval only from the towns, not the state commissioner. 

 

For over a year, the district has been working to bring the agreement up to date with state law. 

 

"It's been a long time we've been operating without approval. State law is we're supposed to be operating with approval," School Committee Chair Richard Peters said. 

 

"Obviously, we operate under the state law, and that trumps anything we do in a regional agreement."

 

Although state law requires that a district have an approved regional agreement, the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education does not penalize a district that does not have a state-approved regional agreement, Vice Chair David Stuart said. 

 

"The way it was explained to me is that it's essentially a legal review to make sure that we're not doing anything that's against the law," he said.