North Adams Public Schools, nbCC Walk to School Day

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — North Adams Public Schools will celebrate "Walk to School Day," with students, parents, teachers, administrators and local "celebrities," on Wednesday, June 5. 
 
According to a press release, "Walk to School" events work to create safer routes for walking and bicycling and emphasize the importance of increasing physical activity among children, pedestrian safety, alleviating traffic congestion, concern for the environment and building connections between families, schools and the broader community.
 
There will be opportunities to walk with "walking school buses." There will also be "park and walk" sites for families that live outside the routes and/or farther from the schools.
 
These sites are: Sullivan School Parking Lot on Kemp Ave., Flynn and Dagnoli on West Main St. and the old Price Chopper parking lot, departing these sites between 7:55 am - 8:10 am. The "walking school bus" routes and park and walk sites can be found at www.napsk12.org/WalkToSchool and on the North Adams Public Schools Facebook page.
 

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Clarksburg Students Write in Support of Rural School Aid

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

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. 
 
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