NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The City Council got an update on what's up in the school system and its president was inducted into the mayor's Women's Leadership Hall of Fame.

 

Mayor Jennifer Macksey, as the city's first woman mayor, established the Hall of Fame in 2022, during March, Women's History Month, to recognize local women who have had a positive impact on the city. Past inductees have included the council's first woman president Fran Buckley, Gov. Jane Swift and boxing pioneer Gail Grandchamp. 

 

She described President Ashley Shade as a colleague and a friend and a former student. 

 

"Ashley is known not just for her leadership, but for her compassion, her ability to listen, to understand and to stand up for those whose voices are often gone unheard," the mayor said. "She has been a tireless advocate for the LGBTQ plus community and marginalized communities at both the local and national level here in North Adams."

 

Elected in 2021, Shade is the first openly transgender person to hold the role of council president in Massachusetts. She also leads the first-ever woman majority council in the city's history. 

 

The McCann Technical School graduate also has served on boards and commissions, "always working to make our city more inclusive, equitable and welcoming," said the mayor. "Ashley not leads not only with strength, but with a heart, and our community is a much stronger place because of it."

 

Shade, wearing her signature pink suit, was presented with a plaque from the mayor designating her a "woman of distinction."

 

Superintendent Timothy Callahan's report was the latest by a department head to bring the council up to speed on what's happening within the city. 

 

"I thought that it was really important, before we got into budget season and we talked about the school budget, that Dr. Callahan provided an update for the City Council," said Macksey. 

 

Callahan said the five values the North Adams Public Schools aspire to are high expectations for student achievement, respect, equity and belonging, family, community involvement, and meaningful learning.

 

As part of his superintendent entry plan as he took the post last June, Callahan said he surveyed students, teachers and parents, visited programs and held stakeholder focus groups to rank those values. 

 

"I'm proud to say, that the No. 1 rated value by a considerable amount was equity and belonging," he said. "And in talking to students and talking to teachers and talking to caregivers, they emphasized how important equity and belonging was in our district and in our community."

 

The schools have prioritized community, such as through fee-free extracurricular and athletic programs and summer 21st Century learning programs.

 

"We also prioritize grant funding with this value in mind. We want to make sure we're not just applying for grants so that we can have more money to do things that we want to do," the superintendent said, noting the district brings in about $2.4 million in grants. 

 

He highlighted the new math curriculum, which is showing real promise particularly in Grades 5 and 6, and improved assessments from the reconfiguration of grade-span schools. The Early College Program, now in its second year, has seen Drury students earn 1,362 college credits -- comparable to more than $600,000 in college tuition. Last year, some 78 percent of seniors completed one or more college courses. 

 

"It's not just the elite you who have access to these college credit bearing opportunities. The idea is to improve access for all students," said Callahan. "We saw an enormous spike in low-income students, students with disabilities, gaining these college credits while still in high school. ...

 

"It's a transformative educational approach that will have major benefits down the road, as these students will typically graduate from college earlier with far less student loan debt."

 

An internship program had 59 students last year working in 23 local businesses, though Callahan said it's been difficult to expand because there aren't enough large enterprises to take on students and there's the challenge of transportation. 

 

The schools overall had a spike in behavior violations last year, but a new code of conduct implemented at the beginning of this school year has reduced those disruptions. 

 

"Once students and teachers got used to the expectations that were clear and in some cases, consequences were escalated, we saw behaviors drop," he said. "This means more students on task, fewer disruptive classrooms, and students getting the support they need to engage positively in the learning environment."

 

Feedback from staff and students has been positive, Callahan said, and students have been heard coaching each other on proper behavior. 

 

"We should have high expectations, and we should hold each other to high expectations, but we have to do this work together. We need community support. We need family support. We need student support," he said. "And when you talk to students about this, they want to be part of the solution."

 

In other business, Shade updated the council on the codification process. The city contracted with General Code last year to go through the city's entire code to look for outdated and conflicting ordinances and to ensure it is compliant with state law.

 

Shade said eCode360, which maintains the ordinances, had sent a digital manuscript and 218 questions for the codification committee. Some of the questions are very in-depth, she said, and some will require input from the solicitor, committees and department heads.

 

"We have until Aug. 12, 2026, that is our deadline to have all of them in to keep the project on the current projected timeline, because longer it takes, we pay more," she said. "So we want to get all of our answers in on time, so we're not delaying the project."

 

We will hopefully begin that process from the beginning of April, and we will likely meet on a weekly basis until we get everything set," Shade said.

 

• The mayor announced appointments of Kristen P Gleason and Lisa Pisano to the new Animal Control Commission, both with terms expiring March 24, 2029, and Randall Kemp, expiring March 24, 2028; Colleen Banks to the Board of Health, term expiring March 24, 2029, and the reappointment of Kevin Lamb, term expiring Feb. 6, 2029; reappointment of Barbara Murray, term expiring April 8, 2029, to the Hoosac Water Quality District; reappointment of Sandra Thomas, term expiring April 1, 2029, to the Registrar of Voters; and new appointment as alternate t the Zoning Boar of Appeals of Christopher Voss, expiring Jan. 1, 2031.

 

• The mayor presented a proclamation in support of Developmental Disabilities and Brain Injury Awareness Month for March and a proclamation in support of Transgender Visibility Day on March 31.

 

• The council referred Public Safety amendments to the animal control bylaw to General Government.