Letter: Jennifer Macksey for Mayor of North Adams

To the Editor:

Jennifer Macksey was born in North Adams and is a lifelong resident. She doesn't need to learn the culture and nuance that is North Adams. North Adams is in her DNA. She is a product of the North Adams Public Schools and a graduate of Drury High School. Her B.A. in accounting certainly prepares her to make sure the balance sheets of North Adams add up.

The jobs she's held have all been leadership jobs, decision-making jobs which require seeing the big picture as well as understanding the nuts-and-bolts operation of complex institutions.

In North Adams, resources are hard to come by and every penny counts. Hard decisions need to be made apportioning what money we do have. Yet Mayor Macksey has not only seen to the city's daily business but also prioritized quality of life issues.

We've been lucky to have Jennifer Macksey occupying the corner office of North Adams City Hall these last four years. Let's not blow it, folks. We have a great mayor! Make sure you show up and vote fill in the bubble next to her name. She's worked 24 hours a day for us. Now it's time for us to show up for her.

Chris Wondoloski
North Adams, Mass. 

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.