News&Notes from the Superintendent

"The aim of education is the knowledge, not of facts, but of values." — William S. Burroughs

The month of March is upon us, and before we know it spring will be here!

Please find below this week’s updates & events happening in our District ~

The Budget Hearing is scheduled for Thursday, March 7, 2024, at 5:00 pm, in the Mt. Everett Library and via Zoom, and will be followed by a regularly scheduled School Committee meeting at 6:00 pm. The objective of this meeting is to provide our school community with a proposed plan for revenues and expenditures for operating, capital, and debt for next school year. On Thursday, March 14, 2024, at 6:00 pm, there will be a School Committee meeting where the goal will be to obtain a vote to recommend the FY25 Proposed Budget to the member towns for approval at their annual town meetings this spring.

At the time this edition was being sent out, the Business Office is still hard at work on the budget proposal before it is presented formally to the School Committee and the school community at the Budget Hearing. The preliminary proposed increase over the FY24 budget is currently 3.75% or $723,558, with the preliminary proposed change in total assessments to the towns show an increase of 2.87%.

I expect that due to new information received from the Department of Revenue as well as continued review and revisions, there will be updated documentation for the Public Hearing. For a more detailed report of what factors influenced the original proposal as well as any proposed additions or initiatives can be found on the website at https://www.sbrsd.org/documents/district/budgets/fy25-budget/567699 .

The next meeting of the Superintendent Advisory Councils will take place in the second half of March with one of the topics being the SBRSD Food Service Program. The students are currently working on their presentations to the School Committee with some recommendations for improvements or needs they would like to see as part of the FY25 Budget Proposal prior to the School Committee’s vote that is slated for the March 14th meeting.

The Core Team has returned from Austin, Texas where we joined eight other teams from across the nation for the in-person Convening. It was a packed agenda with research-based learning time, leadership skill development, inspiration tours, individual Core Team time with our coaches, and several opportunities for feedback from members of our cohort as well as from other Transcend Team partners on our innovative school redesign initiatives.

We feel incredibly lucky for the chance to be part of this experience and for the access to this incredible network of amazing minds and reservoir of resources. The Core Team looks forward to updating the Design and Community Teams as well as our school community. The Design Team will meet on March 12th, and the Community Team is slated to meet on April 9th.

For more information about this incredible community focused initiative click on the link below!

Our very own Mt. Everett Regional Schools Assistant Principal, Julie Steuernagle, was nominated for the Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce 2024 Women in Leadership Award! The event celebrates women in both official and unofficial leadership roles — from business owners and organization directors to volunteer mentors and experts in their fields — who have contributed to the Berkshire region in ways that might not otherwise receive adequate recognition.

The nomination process asked for nominations in five categories: Mentor Leader; Rising Star; Equity & Justice Advocate; Hidden Gem; and Change Maker. The recipients were selected from more than 90 nominations!

Mrs. Steuernagle was asked to be part of the “Power Panel” of speakers on the topic of Women in Leadership in the Berkshires. Please join me in congratulating Julie on her nomination and her recognition as an amazing female leader – we are so very proud of you!

There are so many incredible things happening at our schools, and as you know, we would love to invite you to come on in! This week’s events include Basketball, Cheerleading, Wrestling, Vex Robotics, Elementary Robotics, Berkshire Art Center After School, Drama Rehearsals, Poetry Workshop Grades 4 & 5, the 8th Grade Field Trip to Miss Halls, UME PTO Meeting, Flying Cloud After School Program, Girl Scouts, and the Berkshire Health Coalition just to name of few things!

Please check the event calendar regularly as it will keep you up to date as will the weekly notes from the Principals.

Interested in learning more about our Early College program? Learn more through our website!

Mt. Everett's Innovation Pathway in Advanced Manufacturing focuses on building hands-on 21st-century skills in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). Students work out of the school's Makerspace Lab to build robots, rockets, and more! Learn more through our website.

Information Technology is a growing field! The Information Technology pathway at Mount Everett will allow students to earn several industry-recognized certifications, as well as provide them with a hands-on internship experience tailored to their growing skills during their Senior year. Learn more through our website!

Please feel free to reach out with questions or concerns as I welcome the opportunity to hear from you.

Best,

~ Dr. Beth Regulbuto, Superintendent of Schools