Monterey

Community School Survey

Q1 Are you a registered voter in Monterey?

Answ ered: 140 Skipped: 0

Yes

No

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Answ er Choices Yes No Total

Responses 88.57% 11.43% 124 16 140

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Monterey Community School Survey

Q2 Do you own or rent in Monterey?

Answ ered: 132 Skipped: 8

Ow n

Rent

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Answ er Choices Own Rent Total

Responses 95.45% 4.55% 126 6 132

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Monterey Community School Survey

Q3 Do you have school aged children?

Answ ered: 132 Skipped: 8

Yes

No

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Answ er Choices Yes No Total

Responses 21.21% 78.79% 28 104 132

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Q4 Would you support spending $10,000 for an engineering study/construction planning with regards to construction of a new school which would include ADA needs, State and Federal requirements and site needs?
Answ ered: 132 Skipped: 8

Yes

No

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Answ er Choices Yes No Total

Responses 31.06% 68.94% 41 91 132

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Q5 Do you support:
Answ ered: 132 Skipped: 8

The Tow n of Monterey paying for...

I do not support Monterey...

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Answ er Choices

Responses 29.55% 39

The Town of Monterey paying for and c onstruc ting a new Monterey Community Sc hool whic h would inc lude new tec hnology updates, ADA requirements, parking and a sec ure playground paid for by the taxpayers in Monterey. This option c ould ac c ommodate up to 2 or even 3 grades. 70.45% I do not support Monterey paying for and c onstruc ting a new Monterey Community Sc hool, I am in favor of c losing the Monterey c ampus and busing the c hildren to either New Marlborough Central and/or Undermountain Elementary. Total

93

132

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Q6 Where do you think would be the best location for this proposed new building:
Answ ered: 39 Skipped: 101

On the Wilson McLaughlin...

Behind the firehouse.

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Answ er Choices On the Wilson Mc Laughlin House property at the c orner of Main and New Marlboro Roads. Behind the firehouse. Total

Responses 71.79% 28.21% 28 11 39

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Q7 Please feel free to leave any additional thoughts or comments:

Answ ered: 38 Skipped: 102

# 1 2

Responses I am in favor of restoring the c urrent sc hool house. This survey does not give that option. I think the Monterey sc hool has a wonderful plac e in this c ommunity. My fear is that with dec lining enrollments in most sc hools at this point, the area c annot support a more expansive sc hool at the present time. We need to be working with the sc hool distric t, not ac ting in isolation. I think it is unfortunate that there wasn't the foresight to renovate the Wilson-Mc Laughlin house (a gift to the town) for this purpose and in a way that would also meet the c ommunity's need for other events. Are these the only two c hoic es? What about distric t partic ipation in the building of the fac ility? Why must we pay for a share of all the other fac ilities and the other towns not c ontribute to our fac ility? When did the distric t agreement c hange to this formula? Providing for a safe beautiful plac e for c hildren to learn c an only benefit our Town. The Wilson Mc Laughlin House property is not only an ideal loc ation for the sc hool, but also a plac e for older c hildren to partic ipate in after sc hool programs. I c annot support any taxpayer money supporting a fac ility for so few students even inc luding grades 1 and 2. Students who are sc hool c hoic ed to our Monterey kindergarten should not be part of the disc ussion as we c annot expec t sc hool c hoic e to be here forever. The Sheffield c ampus voted on and approved c an house upward of 1500 students with the plan being that all the outlying sc hools would eventually be c losed. Our tax dollars should be going towards developing a c omprehensive voc ational/tec h educ ation for the c hildren of South Berkshire c ounty to give them job skills for the jobs of the future and allow them to live here in South Berkshire if they so desire. We need to attrac t manufac turing jobs in order for our c hildren to stay here. Employment in the servic e sec tor does not allow one afford to live here in South berkshire. No one will be able to live and work here in the near future without driving one hour or more. We have to look to the future educ ational needs of all our c hildren as not just our kindergarten. poorly written survey question 5 not the only c hoic es. bad survey question 5 is poorly written, too many opinions in one question. Not well thought out., almost shows bias in survey Monterey should explore sec ession from SBRSD and operation as an independent town (like Ric hmond), as the Educ ation Committee proposed several years ago. I would want to understand if and how the building would be used in addition to sc hool ac tivities. Could it house a new Library? Would it have a c ommunity spac e for use during non sc hool hours? Whic h grades would be supported. Is the Sc hool distric t going to c ontinue to support satellite c lasses in Monterey? While I value what the loc al sc hool adds to the c ommunity, I would wan to do the engineering study to understand the full impac t/benefit of the money being spent. With more information I c ould support the building of a sc hool. Thanks for the opportunity to weigh in on this. Tom Sawyer 208 Main Road 413-528-5448 the c urrent sc hool c ould be made c ompliant, with the use of the Higgin's driveway for a yearly fee either loc ation would work. Firehouse is more c entral but how would it impac t the pavilion? We do not have c hildren in these grades but that sc hool is too spec ial to let go. How about looking at a building that already exists, but isn't used during the sc hool day, suc h as the c hurc h, or the Wilson Mc Laughlin House itself? Or instead of erec ting a building that is only used as a sc hool, why not present it as a multifunc tional building that c ould be used for other ac tivities besides a sc hool? That might win over some of the c hildless c urmudgeons who want to see the demise of the Monterey Sc hool.

Date 1/16/2014 5:25 PM 1/1/2014 12:16 PM

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14 I think before we spend taxpayers money on a new sc hool house in Monterey we should researc h using part of Edith Wilson's house for the sc hool house. Great loc ation off main road and already belongs to Monterey taxpayers and I'm sure Edith would approve of it's use. The ADA and modern c odes have c rushed the viability of building sc hools at a reasonable c ost. If ac c eptable c onc essions for ac c essibility c annot be made and the small sc hool house no longer meets the needs, then put the kids (10) on a bus. Why was there not an option to support the sc hool and have the Sc hool Distric t pay for it? Why is it solely the Town's responsibility? If one of the existing feeder sc hools required signific ant upgrade it would be a system wide expense and that's what this should be. For 4 kids? No Before approving any money being spent I woul want to hear what the potential c ost would be to eac h taxpayer. Just some estimates. This is a waste of taxpayer's money when there aren't enough c hildren to fill the building. Hoping that kids from other c ommunities would c hoic e in to here is a gamble and one that shouldn't be taken espec ially when all we ever hear is how we need to think about the families in Monterey that are middle inc ome families and c annot afford these extravaganc es. There are more important and useful things Monterey c ould do with the sum of money you would put into a new building that you don't even know yet if the sc hool will c ontinue a program in. The town has c learly shown support for keeping a sc hool program in Monterey. Let's ac t now and use the support of the new administration in SBRSD to get the projec t going! Thank you! This is a town priority. This projec t should take prec edenc e over any funding for other town projec ts, suc h as town park renovations, upgrades, etc ... Not that this is the town's fault, I blame the SBRSD, but the sc hool issue is something that has too long been neglec ted. This is an opportunity to rethink the WM house c ommunity c enter and rethink whether a separate stand alone fac ility is the best use of sc arc e dollars. A joint sc hool/c ommunity c enter may be more feasible. I do not have a strong opinion on the loc ation. we need a sc hool that has more c hildren involved, so two or three grades would be great. How about a multipurpose building that c ould house the sc hool and the c ommunity c enter in the same struc ture...and maybe even inc lude spac e in the plans for an indoor gym! Please build a sc hool in Monterey! I would like to see the Monterey sc hool be planned and built as part of the new c ommunity c enter. It would help the c ommunity it would help the c ommunity c enter stay populated and c ared for year-round And if the sc hool is no longer needed there would still be a useful spac e For other ac tivities waste of money for so few kids In this unc ertain fisc al c limate it is irresponsible to c ommit to a large c apital expenditure when the future enrollment is unc ertain. re: loc ation - I'd like to see proposed site plans for both loc ations. Behind the firehouse is perhaps safer for highway sight lines. The Wilson property offers a more attrac tive outdoor area for play and exploration. As a former elementary sc hool teac her, inc luding younger grades, I would hope that a new building might inc lude the possibility of K-1st c lass, either as a transition c lass for kids needing a bit more time, or as a regular program for the 1st graders. I taught in a multiage sc hool for many years, inc luding a regular K-1 c lassroom and it was exc ellent for the students. re: keeping a sc hool in Monterey - for the sake of our c ommunity, espec ially for the families of young c hildren, that bonding that happens between families when c hildren begin public sc hooling is hugely important. Also, parental involvement is typic ally at it's highest in the kindergarten and first grade years, so it's vital to have it available loc ally. In addition, high parental involvement at the earliest years leads to parents who "buy in" or feel c onnec ted to and invested in their c hildrens' sc hool experienc e. This would enc ourage c ontinued involvement when the c hildren are older and attending a different sc hool. re: Bus travel. More than 15 minutes for very young c hildren on a sc hool bus is very unfortunate. By sec ond grade they are muc h readier to endure a longer ride... still unfortunate, but they are more prepared. 11/30/2013 8:16 AM

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31 I was a big supporter of the Monterey sc hool. I just feel that an entirely new building will not have the draw that people are hoping for. I think a study needs to be done about estimated numbers of c hildren that may attend before asking taxpayers for money. This town tends to forget about the blue c ollar working c lass that struggle to make ends meet living in Monterey. It is not all retired New Yorkers that needs something to do with their extra c ash. Either of the above named sitesare ac c eptible Given the c urrent ec onomic c onditions and the very small amount of students attending Monterey's sc hool, it just doesn't make sense. How great it has been to have the sc hool for as long as we have, but I believe that its time has c ome. I truly believe that in the not so far future, we will have to seriously c onsider c onsolidation with Berkshire Hills in order to meet our educ ation and property tax responsibilities. Parking and distanc e from a traveled way seem to point to the Fox Hill Rd loc ation. I believe there are environmental c onstraints on this site (rec all a fire prac tic e tower). I think question #5 is unreasonable without a budget number of some ac c urac y. I might c hange my vote if the number is off the sc ale or if the Financ e Comm shows the inc reased tax rate is out of range. The memo did not state where the new sc hool would be built. I am not in favor of using the Edith Wilson property for suc h purposes. You have nothing from the distric t saying they would keep a sc hool here open, even if built. In reality, how many students from Monterey are you talking about? 3 maybe 4, waste of money. I've only lived in Monterey for a little over a year, but I plan to live here a long time. I love the sense of c ommunity in this town, and I feel that educ ating the c hildren of the town IN the town is important for maintaining and fostering c ontinued c ommunity strength into the future. I wish the old sc hool c ould be made feasible..but alas..so it would be great for our kids to remain in a small sc hool in New Marlborough. It's a c ompromise, but I think a fair one for all. THANKS 11/25/2013 1:57 PM

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