On January 15th, 2015, a meeting was held in the Holyoke High cafeteria that set out to reclaim our public schools from coming under state receivership. Certain Holyoke schools have been closely under watch for months now, but now all schools in the district are dangerously close to a full takeover by an outside company. Over one hundred teachers, parents, students, and community members were present at the meeting.

The first speaker of the night was longtime Holyoke High math teacher, Dorothy Alberecht. She spoke for several minutes on topics ranging from over testing in Holyoke, to high poverty levels. She shared a recent personal experience she had with a student in her class in response to those who don’t believe poverty is a problem in our community. When she asked him why he had been missing for the past few days of school, he replied, “It’s cold and I have to walk far. I can’t get a bus pass because we can’t afford one. The cold makes my psoriasis worse and I don’t want it get on my face. My mom doesn’t have a car.” She also spoke about what she feels needs to be done to get Holyoke schools to the good place they are capable of being at. “We need the self determination to bring our schools back to a place where there is joy in learning. Schools that do much more than test our children. Our students, more than most, need experience in the arts, hands on learning, and field trips.” This is not the first time that Dorothy Alberecht has been passionate about speaking out against the potential takeover of our schools, as she is one of the many that continue to fight for the betterment of Holyoke Public Schools.

Another speaker at the meeting, Viviana DeJesus, is a parent of a middle school child that attends Sullivan School in Holyoke. She spoke strongly about what she feels needs to be changed in Holyoke to avoid this full takeover. She went on to speak about how Holyoke schools need so much more than they are provided, saying that Holyoke schools are “criminally underfunded.” She also spoke about how teachers are not the problem here in Holyoke by stating, “Teachers in Holyoke are underpaid and over worked.” She, along with her young daughter, will continue to attend future meetings to show their support for Holyoke schools.

Later in the evening, people dispersed into groups to create lists of how they feel about the potential full state takeover, as well as possible solutions to prevent the takeover. The groups were categorized into teachers, students, parents, and community members. The groups later elected a speaker to read off their lists to everyone in the room. Students spoke about their plans to petition and protest for the good of their schools. Their list also spoke about how there are many students who have continually done well and succeeded in their high school careers, but they are often overlooked. Everyone listened and shared ideas with each other, making the night a large success.

The main goal of the meeting was to start to get organized for the current and future fight against receivership of our schools. Petitions have begun to be signed, and more meetings are in the works.  More people are becoming aware of what could possibly happen to our schools, students, teachers, and overall to our city.

This Tuesday, the Holyoke City Council approved a resolution in opposition of the possible receivership of the Holyoke School District, 13-0.