HPS Superintendent/Receiver Anthony Soto talks about his pride for the district as someone born and raised in the community.
Reminder Publishing photo by Trent Levakis
HOLYOKE — The end is near for Holyoke Public Schools’ status under state receivership as a provisional decision has been announced by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to give the district back local control by next school year.
Announced by DESE Acting Commissioner Russell Johnston during the department’s Oct. 29 board meeting, the provisional decision to remove Holyoke Public Schools’ chronically underperforming designation will come at the end of the school year, anticipated for July 1, 2025. Johnston said the announcement reflected the hard work, resolve and steadfast commitment shown by students, families, staff, school and district leaders, the School Committee and the entire community of Holyoke.
Johnston said at a press conference outside of William G. Morgan School in Holyoke the following day that he was able to tour some of the school buildings prior that morning and said the investments and changes noticed were “remarkable, and they are making a difference for the lives of children.”
He added while the announcement was cause for celebration, there was still a path the district needed to remain on in order to complete this home stretch.
“Now there is more work to be done. We know that, and we know that the people who are leading this work behind me are the ones who are taking the district into the future,” Johnston said. “I have great confidence that the improvement will continue without this state lever in place because of the amazing leadership of this district.”
Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia said during the press conference he was proud to be standing outside of Morgan School to announce such great news for Holyoke’s history. Morgan was the first school in the city to fall into the chronically underperforming designation about a decade ago, which was shortly followed by the district going into receivership.
“As a community we had a lot of soul searching to do. We had a lot of reconciliation across our district to understand the challenges that are impacting our youth, to understand how we make decisions as a government for our youth, and the impact that those decisions, or no decisions has on our kids’ ability to learn and progress within our school district, and we’ve come a long way,” Garcia said.
Johnston and Garcia were joined by Superintendent and Receiver Anthony Soto who shared the pride about the news on Holyoke’s schools.
“First and foremost I’m a proud Puerto Rican kid from Holyoke, I was born and raised in Holyoke, I went through the Holyoke Public School system and graduated and this is real personal to me. Holyoke made me the man that I am today, the husband that I am today, made me the father that I am today and the professional I am today. I’m so appreciative of what Holyoke Public Schools has given to me,” Soto said.
He thanked the DESE’s assistance for putting the district in the position they are in presently after the last nine years under receivership and for Garcia and his leadership bringing the city together to do what was needed to exit receivership.
“We weren’t the first district to go into receivership, but we’re definitely the first one that’s going to get out of receivership,” Soto added.
During its time under receivership the district has seen a 14-point increase in graduation rate to 74.6% in 2023, with even more dramatic improvements for students who are English learners (23-point increase) and students with disabilities (18-point increase).
Soto said improvements in the district like this were not possible without the investments that have been made to infrastructure and that every school building has been invested into at some level as over $100 million has gone toward the schools during the district being under receivership.
Soto shared the district has also doubled access to pre-K programming to more than 500 seats while dramatically expanding full day pre-K as a whole, a 19-point increase in teachers of color (32% now), and a majority of juniors and seniors completing advanced coursework as part of the high school redesign. There has also been a dramatic expansion of the dual language programming with more than 750 students in grades pre-K through 8 now enrolled in the program, representing 20% of students.
Soto explained the district will be putting together a community advisory board to work with the School Committee in deciding the next direction they want to go in and what that will look like for the community. He said he will work with them to make sure a strong plan is put in place.
When asked if he would be in the running to remain as Superintendent once local control was regained, Soto explained that decision was not up to him and that search process would be identified through the advisory board and School Committee’s next steps. The district will continue on its path out of receivership with the end date of receivership anticipated for July 1, 2025.
