Town Government
School Committee & Superintendent
Two Districts, One Student
An Erving student’s schooling is split between two districts, and knowing which is which tells you who to call. Preschool through grade 6 happens at Erving Elementary School, 28 Northfield Road, which is the entire Erving school district: 106 students, one school, governed by a School Committee of four people that Erving voters elect on their own. Grades 7 through 12 happen at the Gill-Montague Regional School District, at Great Falls Middle School and Turners Falls High School, under a regional committee Erving does not vote for. Erving students may also attend Franklin County Technical School.
The Superintendent
Shannon White-Cleveland
Erving is too small to pay for a superintendent by itself, so it does not. Shannon White-Cleveland is Superintendent of Erving School Union #28, a superintendency union five towns share, and Erving is one of the five. She proposes the school budget the town votes in May, sets academic priorities, and runs Erving Elementary day to day alongside Principal Beth Gannon. The Superintendent is hired by and reports to the elected School Committee, which evaluates her, and in the union structure that means answering to the locally elected committee of every member town.
| Role | Superintendent of Schools, Erving School Union #28 |
|---|---|
| Central office | c/o Erving Elementary School, 28 Northfield Road, Erving, MA 01344 |
| Phone | (413) 423-3337 |
| Website | union28.org |
The Erving School Committee
Four members, elected town-wide, governing one school. The committee sets district policy, approves the school budget that goes to Town Meeting as its own warrant article, and hires and evaluates the Superintendent. It meets at Erving Elementary School, and the meetings are public, which means an Erving student who shows up can speak.
Mackensey Bailey
Mark Blatchley
Daniel Hammock
Kelly Sykes
Roster and contact details from the town’s own School Committee page. Erving also seats a representative on the Franklin County Technical School Committee, currently Jacquelyn M. Boyden. The Gill-Montague Regional School Committee holds up to three nonvoting advisory seats for the Erving School Committee, and the district’s own roster lists Erving’s seat as open.
Erving School Union #28
The union was formed in 1901, when Erving, Leverett, New Salem and Wendell voted to share a superintendent; Shutesbury joined in 1902. It is not a regional district and it does not merge the schools. Each town keeps its own school, its own school committee, and its own budget vote; what the five towns share is the cost and the oversight of one Superintendent and one central office. The union covers four elementary districts: Erving Elementary School, Leverett Elementary School, Shutesbury Elementary School, and Swift River School, which New Salem and Wendell run together.
- Member towns: Erving, Leverett, New Salem, Shutesbury, Wendell.
- Formed: 1901, joined by Shutesbury in 1902.
- Grades: PreK through grade 6 in every member district.
- Central office: at Erving Elementary School, 28 Northfield Road.
The District at a Glance
- Enrollment: 106 students, PreK through grade 6.
- Schools: one, Erving Elementary School.
- Principal: Beth Gannon, (413) 423-3326.
- State data: DESE profile (code 00910000).
Meetings & Participation
- When: in the evening at Erving Elementary School, 28 Northfield Road, with agendas posted in advance in the town’s Agenda Center.
- Public comment: residents may address the committee. Check the agenda for sign-up details.
- Watch: Erving Community Access TV records town meetings and posts them online.
- The money vote: the school budget the committee approves still has to pass Town Meeting, so the last word on school funding belongs to the voters in the room.
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