Hawley voters reject Mohawk merger

[ Originally published on: Tuesday, May 05, 2009 ]

HAWLEY -- Despite recommendations to merge from the Hawlemont and Mohawk Trail regional school committees, annual town meeting voters said 'no' Monday night to having their elementary school become part of the Mohawk Trail Regional School District, defeating the proposal by only four votes.

Also, because voters defeated a $95,000 tax levy limit override on the election ballot by a vote of 24 in favor, 37 opposed, the Finance Committee members asked that all financial warrant articles be passed over, so that they could reconfigure the budget. The Proposition 2ﾽ override was to have paid for vocational education and transportation costs of students living in town.

Because the town is required by the state to cover the costs, town officials will re-examine their budget proposal for more cuts.

In a paper ballot vote on town meeting floor, residents voted 21-17 against the proposal to join the Mohawk Trail Regional School District.

Hawley becomes the first of the Mohawk towns to reject the merger. Those who spoke against the merger cited concerns about losing local control over the school.

When asked earlier Monday what would happen if Hawley defeats the measure, Superintendent Michael Buoniconti said he will still ask the remaining Mohawk towns to vote on the warrant article at their town meetings.

'If Hawley votes the merger down, the vote will proceed in the remainder of the towns,' he said. 'That's because the public vote has a shelf-life of approximately 12 months, as a rule. So, if Hawley were to reconsider during the following 12 months, then there could be a unanimous vote,' he explained.

Buoniconti already heads the Rowe, Hawlemont and Mohawk Trail school districts; however, each school district has to have its own payroll, its own annual audit, its own unions and contract negotiations, according to state law. Buoniconti has said merging the 105-student Hawlemont school with the multi-school Mohawk district would reduce administrative time by about 20 percent and save Hawley and Charlemont about $73,000 in fiscal 2010.

Both Ashfield and Plainfield voted in favor of the merger at annual meetings on Saturday. All eight towns must approve of the merger for it to become a reality.

In Hawley's annual town election, voters elected a 17-year-old write-in candidate to an empty seat on the Hawlemont Regional School Committee.

Mohawk Trail high school senior Hussain Hamdan of West Hawley Road will serve in that position for the next three years. Hamdan, an honor student, has been serving as a student representative to the Mohawk Trail Regional School District Committee.

Incumbents who were re-elected to office Monday were: Selectman and Tree Warden Darwin Clark Jr.; Assessor Henry Eggert; Moderator and Mohawk School Committee member Scott Purinton; and Auditor Kirby 'Lark' Thwing Jr.

Residents agreed to stop assessing a farm excise tax on animals and machinery by a 33-28 vote.

 

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