The Overview

If you live in Bernardston, Gill, Leyden, Northfield, Warwick, or Montague, Massachusetts, your town must hold a ballot vote on forming the Great River Regional School District, under a law Gov. Maura Healey signed on August 25. Gov. Maura Healey (D) signed the school regionalization bill, An Act providing equal opportunity for residents to vote on establishment of the Great River Regional School District, S 3181, on Aug. 25. The legislation was designed to give all six towns an equal opportunity to vote on the district, addressing an equity concern among member towns, according to the Greenfield Recorder. ​

What the Law Does

The law requires all six towns to place a question on the ballot at their first annual or special town election after the act took effect, asking voters whether to create the Great River Regional School District. If a majority of voters across all six towns approve, the district is established; if Warwick alone rejects it, the other five towns may still form the district without Warwick. The law sets this ballot process notwithstanding section 15 of chapter 71 of the General Laws or any other general or special law to the contrary.

The two Franklin County districts involved served about 1,400 students, with enrollment falling by several dozen almost every year, WAMC reported. Per-pupil costs in non-vocational Massachusetts districts with fewer than 1,300 students were 17 percent higher than in more populous districts, according to the Massachusetts Rural Schools Commission, The Shoestring reported. The six towns held separate special elections on Oct. 6, and voters rejected the proposed district.

Legislative Status

Sen. Jo Comerford, a Democrat, sponsored the bill, with Susannah Whipps as cosponsor. Comerford and Whipps worked with the Six Town Regionalization Planning Board to advance the legislation, and board members testified in favor at a joint House and Senate hearing in April, the Greenfield Recorder reported. The bill went from its first recorded action on July 16 to the governor's signature on Aug. 25.

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