School Committee gets state guidance on updating 27-year-old regional agreement

REHOBOTH -- May 29, 2014, Dighton-Rehoboth School Committee hears state guidance on overhauling its 1987 regional agreement. Christine Lynch, Director of the Office of Regional Governance at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, told the committee Thursday that the agreement predates the Education Reform Law of 1993 and must be updated to reflect current statutory assessment methodology, the gap that produced intertown financial tension this fiscal year. Lynch explained that the regional school committee may appoint a study subcommittee, that any amendment requires voter approval in both Rehoboth and Dighton, and that the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education must sign off on all changes, including any form of deregionalization. Committee member David Katzer said the district has concluded the current agreement "does not work for this district anymore." Lynch said she would check whether a state grant through the Executive Office of Administration and Finance remains available to help fund the study. The committee also voted unanimously to accept Box Tops for Education donations totaling $1,472.63 to Beckwith Middle School and Palmer River Elementary School, and to appoint incoming Superintendent Dr. Anthony Azar as the district's representative on the READS Collaborative board beginning July 1, 2014.