Letter: Vote Lynette Bond for Mayor

To the Editor:

I write today to urge North Adams voters to support Lynette Bond for mayor. I believe a vote for Lynette will keep the city moving in the right direction. Lynette is incredibly active in North Adams and has the experience, foresight, and fortitude to do the job that needs to be done. Sure, she has never been a Facebook warrior, soapbox avenger, or ego maniac, so perhaps her deep investment and commitment to the city hasn't hit everyone's radar, but the positive impact of her work has likely touched each and every one of you in some way.

The city of North Adams has always had to work a little harder than other places to succeed. Lynette gets that and spends her time putting in that effort, not just talking about it or reminiscing about what once was.

I've known Lynette for years and when she announced her candidacy for mayor, I was thrilled. Lynette and I volunteered on the Planning Board together and I always found her inquisitive, mature, educated on the subject matter, able to make decisions -- and all around, just a great person. All necessary qualities in a mayor!

Lynette Bond will be proposing new, creative solutions (and she already is) -- and won't fall back on the same old same old. As mayor she can see a path forward to advance North Adams and help it realize its potential.

Paul Hopkins
Boylston, Mass.

Paul Hopkins is a former member of the North Adams Planning Board and former president of the North Adams City Council. 

Clarksburg Students Write in Support of Rural School Aid

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
07:25AM / Sunday, March 15, 2026

Mason Langenback calculated that Clarksburg would get almost $1 million if the $60 million was allocated equally.

CLARKSBURG, Mass. — Eighth-graders at Clarksburg School took a lesson in civic advocacy this week, researching school funding and writing letters to Beacon Hill that call for fully funding rural school aid. 

 

The students focused on the hardships for small rural schools and their importance to the community — that they struggle with limited funding and teacher shortages, but offer safe and supportive spaces for learning and are a hub for community connections.

 

"They all address the main issue, the funding for rural schools, and how there's a gap, and there's the $4 million gap this year, and then it's about the $40 million next year, and that rural schools need that equitable funding," said social studies teacher Mark Karhan.

 

A rural schools report in 2022 found smaller school districts cost from nearly 17 percent to 23 percent more to operate, and recommended "at least" $60 million be appropriated annually for rural school aid. 

 

Gov. Maura Healey has filed for more Chapter 70 school aid, but that often is little help to small rural schools with declining or static enrollment. For fiscal 2027, she's budgeted $20 million for rural schools, up from around $13 million this year but still far below the hoped for $60 million. 

 

Karhan said the class was broken into four groups and the students were provided a submission letter from Rural Schools Advocacy. The students used the first paragraph, which laid out the funding facts, and then did research and wrote their own letters. 

 

They will submit those with a school picture to the governor.