At the start of the 2009–2010 school year, under a new contract with MassDevelopment, Devens schoolchildren in the elementary grades will join their middle- and high-school-age siblings and neighbors in the Harvard public schools. For Devens residents, the opportunity to have their children educated in a single system from pre-kindergarten through high school provides continuity and stability. For Harvard, the financial benefits of the arrangement are significant.
Educational beginnings
When Chapter 498 of the Acts of 1993 of the laws of Massachusetts authorized MassDevelopment (previously known as the Government Land Bank) to be the developer and provider of municipal services for the land that was formerly Fort Devens, it was specified that MassDevelopment “shall be the public agency responsible for ensuring that persons residing at Devens will receive the same educational benefits and opportunities to which other persons in the commonwealth are entitled under the General Laws.”
The law further specified that this was to be accomplished initially by contracting with the School Committee or School Committees of one or more of the three towns within whose boundaries Devens lies—Ayer, Harvard and Shirley—or with “any other municipality or district within the commonwealth.” After this initial period, alternatives for continuing the education of Devens schoolchildren included renewing the original contract(s), forming a regional school district with one or more of the towns or other nearby towns, or operating a Devens school district.
In the event that MassDevelopment was unable to accomplish any of these options, it would be the responsibility of the three towns to provide educational services to those families living within their borders. Almost all of the 282 housing units authorized under the Devens Reuse Plan lie within Harvard’s borders.
Historically, children of the military families at Fort Devens attended school in Ayer, and this arrangement continued when the first nonmilitary families arrived in 1996 after the fort’s closure. These families were residents at Sylvia’s Haven, a transitional home for women and children. According to MassDevelopment Devens chief of staff Meg Delorier, reached at her office last week, the first housing units renovated under the Reuse Plan were occupied by Devens residents in 2000.
Delorier explained that when the Ayer School Committee opted out of the arrangement whereby MassDevelopment reimbursed them for providing education to Devens schoolchildren, MassDevelopment contracted with the Shirley School Committee to provide the services. Under the Shirley contract, which started in September 2001 and ran for three school years with a two-year extension option, Devens children attended the Shirley schools in kindergarten through eighth grade and then attended high school in either Lunenberg or Ayer under a tuition agreement with Shirley, since Shirley does not have its own high school.
At that time, the Harvard School Committee declined an invitation to bid on the educational contract, explaining in a letter to the community in the Dec. 22, 2000 issue of the Harvard Post, “Issues of particular concern to us are space, as we are currently at capacity in our two buildings, and timely and appropriate payment from MassDevelopment, a concern based on their poor track record with Ayer.”
DEAC is formed
In December 2002, the Devens Educational Advisory Committee (DEAC) was formed as specified by Chapter 498, “for the purpose of providing advice and consultation to (MassDevelopment) regarding educational and education-related issues and concerns.” DEAC consists of one School Committee representative from each of the three towns and four elected Devens residents, at least two of whom are parents of school-age children. This group reviews the educational issues and concerns of Devens residents and advises representatives of the MassDevelopment Board of Directors on matters relating to the educational contracts.
Under the guidance of this group, the Devens School District was established in 2001 as a nonoperating school district. According to Victor Normand, former vice president, MassDevelopment then put out a request for a proposal seeking a School Committee or educational organization to help run an operating school district.
Dave Winters, Devens resident and member of the Devens Committee, an advisory committee that functions in lieu of a Board of Selectmen, spoke by phone last week about the significant desire on the part of Devens residents to have a neighborhood school for at least the youngest of their school-age children.
“DEAC worked hard to get a school started on Devens,” Winters said.
A lack of support from the Department of Education (DOE) stopped that initiative in its tracks. Claiming that there are already too many districts in the commonwealth that are too small, Commissioner David Driscoll told them, “Grow first and then come back.”
Harvard contracts for Devens students
Normand explained that at this point, DEAC and MassDevelopment entered into a new three-year contract with Shirley at the elementary level only and subcontracted directly with the Harvard School Committee for middle and high school students. Harvard’s contract runs until 2011 and automatically renews for one-year terms after that unless either party provides written notice two years in advance. According to Jackie Smith in the superintendent’s office, there are currently 12 students from Devens at Bromfield, nine in the middle school and three in the high school.
With the Shirley contract in its last year, the ink on a new contract between the Harvard School Committee and MassDevelopment is barely dry. This is a three-year contract to provide educational services to Devens residents in grades pre-kindergarten through five starting September 2009. After 2012, the contract automatically renews for one-year terms unless either party provides written notice two years in advance. Using 2007 data, Smith said that the administration is anticipating a number of around 35 Devens students at the Harvard Elementary School (HES). The recent downward trend in enrollment at the early grade levels has created some breathing room at HES.
Willie Wickman, School Committee member and DEAC member since 2004, explained that in the event of a housing boom at Devens, her committee has a right to cancel the agreement.
“The numbers now shouldn’t change drastically until the next phase of housing,” Wickman said, “and the next phase hasn’t even been agreed upon.”
Under the terms of the contracts, per-pupil tuition is based on the district per-pupil cost from the prior year. Finance Director Lorraine Leonard is currently using the fiscal year 2007 figure of $11,186.75 until the 2008 number is available from the DOE. Reached at Town Hall last week, Leonard noted how favorably this per-pupil tuition number compares to the district’s current per-pupil school choice reimbursement of $5,100 to $5,200.
Additional contract benefits include one-time capital needs and improvements settlements of $100,000 and $80,000, for the middle and high school contract and the elementary school contract respectively, to be paid out in annual installments, and annual payments of $90,000 and $75,000 to the respective schools for facilitating the transition of Devens students to the Harvard schools.
The contract for elementary educational services includes the lease of the Devens School at Devens that is currently being used by Shirley for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten. This lease is subject to approval by a Harvard Town Meeting vote, and the use of the building is limited to “educational purposes.” School Committee Chairman Stu Sklar, speaking by phone last week, said the plan is to bring the lease before next year’s Annual Town Meeting. At $1 per year, including utilities, the lease is a pretty good deal, although 75 percent of any revenues generated must be paid to the landlord.
“We plan to put together a group of people at the elementary level to meet and talk about potential use for the building,” Wickman said. She added that although the building will not be used as part of the school district for now, the School Committee is talking about needing an additional building in the future.
Devens residents speak
According to Kathy Bernklow, Devens resident and “three- or four-year” chairwoman of DEAC, the majority of residents would still like to have a community school for their lower elementary school-age children.
“Research shows that the younger they are, the least amount of travel away from their community is best,” Bernklow said by phone last week, adding that the most important thing to residents is the best possible education for their children.
“Devens residents want their students in the best schools possible and my sense from talking to people is that they think the new contracts are a good thing,” Winters said.
An obvious concern is that the continuity of education for Devens schoolchildren should survive any scenario for the final disposition of the land at Devens, whether those lands are returned to the three towns, formed into a new town, or some combination of the two. Bernklow believes that the role of DEAC is to ensure that continuity. She said that DEAC has been in a quiet phase recently and hopes to see a resurgence of community interest for the upcoming election of new members.
“Education can’t be linked to what’s going on politically—it’s way too important,” said Bernklow.
