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By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — Over the course of two hours Monday, legislators sitting on the Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism presented numerous pro-Palestinian exhibits — resources that educators might use in their classroom — drawn from a members-only section of the Massachusetts Teachers Association website.

By CHRIS LARABEE

SOUTH DEERFIELD — After receiving numerous letters against proposed graduation requirements, the Frontier Regional School District School Committee Tuesday evening tabled a measure that would require students to still pass the MCAS or a similar standardized test to graduate.

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

GREENFIELD — Greenfield Community College opened four new associate degree majors this academic year, allowing students to enroll in programs such as environmental conservation and human services.

By CHRIS LARABEE

NORTHFIELD — Pioneer Valley Regional School administrators said they are deepening their commitment to investing in curriculum, staff compensation and facilities in the fiscal year 2026 budget presentation last week.

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

TURNERS FALLS — The selectboards and finance committees of Gill and Montague met with Gill-Montague Regional School District administrators this week to review the proposed fiscal year 2026 school budget ahead of a Feb. 11 public hearing.

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN and CHRIS LARABEE

While there have been no Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents reported at schools in the region, district administrators around the county are laying out how schools will respond if ICE agents approach them.

By SAM DRYSDALE

Any selective criteria used to admit students to vocational technical schools must be actually essential to the success of the school, per new regulations the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is drafting for their board’s review in February.

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

BUCKLAND — The 2 District, 8 Town Steering Committee, or 2D8T, is seeking community feedback as it contemplates models for possible restructuring of the Mohawk Trail and Hawlemont Regional school districts in an effort to maintain or improve the experience of students while taking into account the fiscal limitations of the districts’ small member towns.

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Attorney General Andrea Campbell wants to stop students from using cellphones in schools, but education regulators seem unsure how far they should go — especially when that power lies not in the state’s hands, but with local school districts.

By DOUG SELWYN

Massachusetts Senate President Karen Spilka recently stated that she was hearing from senators around the state that schools within their districts were badly underfunded and so it was time to re-examine the state’s approach to funding, which is welcome news. I hope that President Spilka and her colleagues take the time to listen to and take seriously the stories that those actually working in the schools have to tell about the impact of underfunding on the children and education workers across the state. It is one thing to look at funding formulas, and quite another to realize that the numbers on the page carry a real impact on the lives of real children. That became very clear to me at a recent Zoom on educational funding.

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

MONTAGUE — Gill-Montague Regional School District’s $1.3 million projected budget shortfall for fiscal year 2026 has been mitigated, and a revised preliminary budget was unanimously approved by the School Committee Tuesday night.

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

GILL — Northfield Mount Hermon School announced Thursday that it received a $50 million bequest from the late John Mitchell, representing the largest donation received by NMH and one of the largest given to an independent school in the country.

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

GREENFIELD — The city’s Board of License Commissioners approved an entertainment license for the annual Extravaganja, a cannabis-themed event planned for the Franklin County Fairgrounds on April 19, under the condition that organizers create a designated smoking area.

By CHRIS LARABEE

NORTHFIELD — While the Winchester High School Selection Committee only moved Hinsdale High School to the next stage in its process of finding an anchor school for high schoolers from Winchester, New Hampshire, the Pioneer Valley Regional School District is planning on staying in the mix as a choice school.

By COLIN A. YOUNG

Gov. Maura Healey announced a plan Tuesday to pump at least $2.5 billion into facilities at the University of Massachusetts, state universities and community colleges by the middle of the 2030s.

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — A New Salem company has been tapped to construct an outdoor classroom pavilion at Fisher Hill Elementary School.

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

MONTAGUE — As the Gill-Montague Regional School District begins to revise its budget for fiscal year 2026, figures presented during Tuesday’s School Committee meeting show a $1.3 million shortfall.

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

TURNERS FALLS — Following the teachers union’s Dec. 13 vote of no confidence leveled against Superintendent Brian Beck and Director of Facilities and Energy Heath Cummings, the Gill-Montague Regional School District is relaunching a Joint Labor Management Committee to act as a problem-solving board.

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

BUCKLAND — With a $22.6 million budget proposal for fiscal year 2026 as a starting point, the Mohawk Trail Regional School District Budget Subcommittee will be working over the next few weeks to see what line items could potentially be trimmed.

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

ERVING — Gardner resident Beth Gannon is now at the helm of Erving Elementary School, bringing 21 years of experience in administration and teaching to her role as interim principal.