The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education declared Holyoke Public Schools a "chronically underperforming" Level
5 district on Wednesday.
With that rating, Holyoke Public Schools is placed
under the control of the state and will be managed by a receiver.
This vote follows a highly attended forum on Holyoke
Public Schools in the city Monday night, where the school community largely
asked city schools remain under local control.
During the four-hour meeting 65 people spoke to the
board, most of whom said they supported the work of Superintendent of Schools
Sergio Paez and asked he be given more time to see the results of his work.
Board Chairman Paul Sagan acknowledges such
improvement but said it's just way, way too little."
The following board members voted in favor of
receivership: Sagan, Vanessa Calderon-Rosado, Katherine Craven, Margaret
McKenna, James O'S. Morton, Penny Noyce, James Peyser and David Roach. While
Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Mitchell D. Chester
recommended receivership, he doesn't have a vote on the board.
Three members - Ed Doherty, Mary Ann Stewart and
Donald Willyard - voted against receivership. Doherty cited labor concerns
regarding the vote and Stewart and Willyard said they were convinced to vote no
following a visit to Holyoke Public Schools. They were the only two members to
visit the schools.
The majority of the board shared similar statements
to Sagan, saying they were concerned progress would not come soon enough in the
district.
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