Athol: Gauthier seeks seat on School Committee
GAUTHIER
Published: 3/17/2021 3:19:55 PM
Modified: 3/17/2021 3:19:53 PM
ATHOL When Athol voters go to the polls on April 5, they will have just one contest to decide, having to choose from among three candidates for two seats on the Athol Royalston Regional School Committee.
One of those candidates is Elaine Gauthier of 136 Cailan Way.
Gauthier is a lifelong resident of the town, having graduated from Athol High School in 1994. In 1998, she was hired to coach the AHS girls’ volleyball team, a position she held for two years before going to work at Cornerstone Insurance agency in 2000.
After working as a licensed insurance agent for 16 years, she decided a change was needed and went to work as the administrative assistant to Athol Royalston Middle School principal Thomas Telicki. She started coaching the girls basketball team in 2017.
Athol: Grosky seeks return to Selectboard
MITCHELL R. GROSKY
Published: 3/11/2021 2:04:07 PM
Modified: 3/11/2021 2:04:05 PM
ATHOL Unless someone mounts a winning write-in campaign, current Athol Royalston Regional School Committee member Mitchell R. Grosky will slide unopposed into the Selectboard seat being vacated by William Chiasson, who has resigned. Grosky, who is the only person to return nomination papers for the seat to the Town Clerk, would serve the one year remaining on Chiasson’s term.
Grosky previously served on the Selectboard from 2015 to 2016, when he was elected to finish out the term of Susannah Whipps, who resigned after being elected to the state Legislature. He also served as a town meeting member under the old town charter. He has been a member of the School Committee for seven years. He and his wife, Anne, have resided in Athol for more than four decades. They have two grown children.
Times Past: Week of February 15
Published: 2/21/2021 11:38:04 AM
Modified: 2/21/2021 11:38:01 AM
1996
Requests from educators’ wish lists media centers, computer labs, conference rooms, science labs, redesigned technical arts areas, storage, gymnasiums and more were lined up with state guidelines at the Athol school building committee meeting. The presentation gave a first look at what new school construction and renovations could mean in terms of project size and bottom-line costs.
■David Small, president of the Athol Bird and Nature Club, updated the Athol Downtown Partnership on the status of the Greenway bike and trail project. Small said the Orange Revitalization Partnership project needs involvement by the Athol community.
Teachers union OKs issues linked to pandemic
Published: 2/16/2021 2:28:49 PM
Modified: 2/16/2021 2:28:46 PM
ATHOL Nearly 11 months after the first case of COVID-19 in Athol, the Athol Royalston Regional School Committee has unanimously approved a memorandum of agreement with the Athol Teachers Association, the union that represents educators and the bargaining units of three other categories of district employees. The MOA is meant to address issues peculiar to educating the district’s students in the midst of a pandemic.
The committee also approved a resolution to an unfair labor practice complaint filed against the district by the ATA. Union president Kelly Conway said several issues related to the complaint contributed to the delay in hammering out a MOA.
Senators sponsor state bill to ban Native American mascots
Activist Rhonda Anderson of Colrain is a member of the Inupiaq and Athabaskan peoples. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ
COMERFORD
Published: 2/14/2021 7:34:49 PM
Area state senators are sponsors of a bill that would prohibit public schools from using Native American mascots, logos and team names.
State Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, filed Bill SD.417 a few days ago to take up the mantle in the fight against imagery and mascots deemed insensitive to Indigenous communities. Comerford is the lead sponsor and Adam Hinds, a Pittsfield Democrat, has signed on, as have Democratic colleagues Sonia Chang-Diaz, Jack Patrick Lewis, Rebecca Rausch, Sal DiDomenico and Jason Lewis. The bill has previously been unsuccessful in legislative session.