HOLYOKE — The Holyoke School Committee presented its much-anticipated plan to exit state receivership during its Aug. 19 meeting that will set the stage for the district to regain local control.
The plan aims to continue the work necessary in exiting receivership and prepare School Committee members through training in key areas essential for running the district. This includes setting educational goals for the district, hiring and evaluating a superintendent, finance and budgeting, and policy development.
The strategy is set to roll out with the start of the upcoming school year.
School Committee member Dr. Yadilette Rivera Colón explained the plan has an official new name, now known as the Plan for Building School Committee Capacity for Local Control of Holyoke Public Schools.
“This includes professional development for the roles and responsibilities, and just to make sure that everybody knows that as we go through and we learn more and go through the process, some elements of this plan may be adjusted based on any changes that occur,” Rivera Colón explained. “Basically, the goal of this plan is to empower our school committee in the path to local control.”
Rivera Colón added this training would also benefit School Committee members through continuing to focus on improvement, collaboration with stakeholders and maintaining legal and fiduciary responsibilities.
The presentation of the plan during the meeting followed the eighth meeting between the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Holyoke Local Control Subcommittee, who, since March, have been regularly meeting to create this plan and continue the work out of receivership. Also involved in these meetings have been Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia and Superintendent/Receiver Anthony Soto.
Through these meetings, Rivera Colón said the district and state have locked in on four key areas to be focused on. These areas include finding the best process in hiring a superintendent with the exit from receivership, providing effective feedback, money management in order to maintain an effective budget strategy, and the development of strong policies making clear rules to guide the district’s decisions and how they are getting there.
“Each area will have specific tasks and deadlines. We’ll be learning new skills. We’ll be able to help set the goals so we know what we’re looking for and what success looks like for our current receiver, and we’ll find of course ways to keep everyone informed,” Rivera Colón explained.
Garcia, who chairs the School Committee, thanked DESE acting Commissioner Russel Johnston for his hand in working with the district the last half year on establishing this plan and continuing to forge a path out of receivership.
“I want to acknowledge and thank the commissioner for being such an incredible partner when this kicked off, when we didn’t feel like we were partners at all in this whole process, and just acknowledging the fact that it’s never been done and none of us knew what to do but we were going to figure it out together and he agreed to come to the table himself and it was a brand new day after that,” Garcia said.
Garcia added the big question he constantly receives from residents is when the district will finally exit state receivership, to which Garcia said that will be decided in part by how quickly the committee can grow in capacity building.
“A lot of the members here on this side of the table haven’t been on a board when we were in control and there is a level of responsibility to it that is critical to support the day to day operations of the district and stumbling in the process, there’s not time or room for it so we want to make sure we’re fully prepared, capable and ready when that transition starts so that we can as fluid as possible,” Garcia said.
The plan was approved by the committee unanimously. The full plan can be viewed on the district website.
During the Local Control Subcommittee’s meeting prior to the School Committee’s meeting, Johnston said he felt the plan was a great next step for the district in exiting receivership and credited the district’s work on meeting the deadline to present this plan.
“I think that this committee has done so much to be self-guided, to lay down the framework for this that I see this as a way to continue to build on it, using the supports that were already made,” Johnston said. “There’s already strength among this committee and now we want to really accelerate it towards exiting.”
