DESE Office of School Monitoring to Visit MGRSD

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — During the week of May 13, 2024, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Office of Public School Monitoring (PSM) will conduct a Tiered Focused Monitoring Review of Mount Greylock Regional School District. 
 
The Office of Public School Monitoring visits each district and charter school every three years to monitor compliance with federal and state special education and civil rights regulations. Areas of review related to special education include student assessments, determination of eligibility, the Individualized Education Program (IEP) Team process, and IEP development and implementation. Areas of review related to civil rights include bullying, student discipline, physical restraint, and equal access to school programs for all students.
 
In addition to the onsite visit, parent outreach is an important part of the review process. The review chairperson from the Office of Public School Monitoring will send all parents of students with disabilities an online survey that focuses on key areas of their child's special education program. Survey results will contribute to the development of a report. During the onsite review, the Office of Public School Monitoring will interview the chairperson(s) of the district's Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC). Other onsite activities may include interviews of district staff and administrators, reviews of student records, and onsite observations.
 
Parents and other individuals may call Michelle Hennessey-Kowalchek, Public School Monitoring Chairperson, at (413) 314-6709 to request a telephone interview. If an individual requires an accommodation, such as translation, to participate in an interview, the Department will make the necessary arrangements.
 
Within approximately 60 business days after the onsite visit, the review chairperson will provide the district with a report with information about areas in which the district meets or exceeds regulatory requirements and areas in which the district requires assistance to correct or improve practices. The public will be able to access the report at http://www.doe.mass.edu/psm/tfm/reports/.
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Williamstown Dog Owners to Select Board: 'Let Us Deal with It'

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Select Board on Monday was told that it should let the people who walk their dogs in the Spruces Park decide how the 114-acre town-owned park is managed.
 
A resident who self-described as a representative of "dog park parents and their little friends" told the elected officials that her feelings were hurt because it appeared the board was not paying enough attention to an email she drafted on the issue of whether to designate areas of the park available for off-leash dogs and require leashes in other areas.
 
"Our bottom line, as I put in my email this morning, was: Bike trail for leash, everything else off-leash," Avie Kalker told the Select Board. "And everyone who wants to walk on the grass and the fields and roam through the corn fields knows that this is the off-leash area and that dogs, for the most part, are trained.
 
"We're responsible people."
 
Monday marked the latest in a series of meetings during which the board has discussed whether and how to regulate use of the park by domestic animals and their owners.
 
The issue started to percolate in the spring of 2023, when a member of the board brought an bylaw proposal to the May town meeting by way of citizens' petition that would have amended the town's bylaw to require dogs to be leashed when not on an owner's property in the General Residence zoning district — which includes the Spruces Park.
 
This winter, the Select Board focused on the park itself, land that the town acquired about a decade ago under terms of a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant to close the flood-prone mobile home park on Main Street.
 
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