Nearly a decade after the state took over the Holyoke Public Schools district, members of the city’s school committee are upbeat about finding a way back to local control.
The new optimism was apparent during its regular meeting Monday, when committee members were joined by Acting state Education Commissioner Dr. Russell Johnston.
Together with the committee and a newly-formed Local Control Subcommittee, the officials established how a plan to transition Holyoke Public Schools out of receivership will come together over a series of meetings in the months ahead.
Johnston made the stop in Holyoke less than a week after officially starting his job as acting commissioner. He was picked by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in February.
“It's really important to me that during, essentially, my first week on this job that I'm here in Holyoke with you,” he said. “This is a symbol of my priority of working with you, of how seriously I take this task of developing this plan for the future.”
Holyoke schools have been in receivership since 2015 due to chronic underperformance.
Ever since, the district has taken part in a turnaround plan, leading to a significant increase in graduation rates, rising 15 points to 74.9 percent in 2021-22.
However, as outlined in a letter to then-Commissioner Jeffrey Riley in December, Holyoke Superintendent and Receiver Anthony Soto acknowledged multiple areas for improvement remained.
That included addressing high rates of chronic absenteeism and MCAS scores that continue to lag behind state averages.
Soto’s letter was sent in the wake of the school committee submitting a petition to Riley to end receivership, which the former commissioner opted to defer.
Simply getting a commissioner to sit down for a meeting in Holyoke has long been a goal of the school committee, according to committee Vice Chair Erin Brunelle.
“In the many years of receivership that we've been in so far, this is the first time we've been able to have an official representation at the table for a public meeting,” Brunelle said. “And that right there just says so much to us.”
It was a sentiment echoed by Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia, who previously told WAMC that the stars were aligning for his city when asked about Johnston’s appointment.
Garcia says before his appointment, Johnston had expressed willingness to make a plan of action for the city to exit receivership.
“Welcome here to the city of Holyoke and we very much appreciate the leadership that, well, personally speaking, the leadership I'm seeing so far in your willingness to come to the table, have these discussions and so, we welcome you here and looking forward to a very healthy and productive partnership,” the mayor said.
Johnston sat for both the newly-created Local Control Subcommittee and regular school committee meetings Monday.
He says he plans to continue meeting with the subcommittee as it tackles subjects such as the city’s turnaround plan, policies, and other details involving the transition back to local control.
A full list of the meetings and their topics can be found here.
Officials hope to have a receivership exit plan ready by August.
