From Mayor Joshua A. Garcia regarding a recent meeting with Acting Education Commissioner to discuss School Receivership:
I’m very pleased and encouraged to report that Holyoke is now on a path designed to lead us out of receivership and back to local control. We received this assurance Monday evening in a meeting with the state’s Acting Education Commissioner, Russell Johnston, the Holyoke School Committee, and its Local Control Subcommittee. Mr. Johnston told us he is committed to helping Holyoke develop a clear plan — with a timeline — to end nine years of state receivership.
We have agreed to work together for the next five months to develop a governance plan that outlines the steps we need to take to regain our schools. In his own words, Mr. Johnston said, ‘We are officially entering the transition process to return to local control.’
I should note that Mr. Johnston will personally participate in seven meetings from April through August with the Local Control Subcommittee. We are grateful for this clear demonstration of the state’s willingness to work with us.
The seven meetings will start at 5 p.m. in the Fifield Room at Dean Tech. They are open to the public in person or via Zoom. Here’s the schedule and the discussion topics:
- Monday, April 8, review the Turnaround Plan that has guided receivership since 2015;
- Tuesday, April 23, annual budgeting;
- Monday, May 13, discuss policy process;
- Tuesday, May 28, discuss process for reviewing, hiring, and evaluating the superintendent;
- Monday, June 10, create plan for collaboration with key stakeholders;
- Monday, July 22, revisit Turnaround Plan;
- Monday, August 19, review and develop recommendations for School Committee bylaws to go into effect when receivership ends.
Be clear: August is not when receivership ends. It’s when we expect our exit plan to be complete.