Town Government
School Committee & Superintendent
The Superintendent
Timothy Lee
Otis is too small to run a school district by itself, so it runs one jointly with Sandisfield. Timothy Lee is the Superintendent of the Farmington River Regional School District, which enrolls about 105 students in a single building, Farmington River Elementary School at 555 North Main Road here in Otis. The Superintendent proposes the school budget, sets academic priorities, and runs the district day to day, and is hired by and reports to the elected School Committee. Because the district is regional, that committee answers to two towns at once: three of its five seats are elected by Otis voters and two by Sandisfield.
| Role | Superintendent of Schools, Farmington River Regional School District |
|---|---|
| District office | 555 North Main Road, Otis, MA 01253 |
| Phone | (413) 269-4466 ext. 150 |
| Principal | Laurie Flower, Principal and Technology Director |
| Website | frrsd.org |
The School Committee
The Farmington River Regional School Committee has five members serving staggered three-year terms, three filling Otis’s seats and two filling Sandisfield’s. The committee sets district policy, approves the school budget, and hires and evaluates the Superintendent who runs the schools day to day. It meets in the Farmington River Elementary School library, and the meetings are public, which means an Otis student who shows up can speak.
Denise Hardie
Carl Nett
Kate Meierdiercks
Stacey Schultze
Douglas Miner
Otis’s School Committee seats are on the town ballot like any other town office. In 2026 Denise Hardie was re-elected to a three-year term with 206 of the 278 votes cast. The district posts its current roster at frrsd.org.
Where Otis Students Go
Farmington River Regional runs one school and it stops at grade 6. The state’s own enrollment table shows the district with students in preschool through grade 6 and none at all in grades 7 through 12, so the district buys those years rather than teaching them.
The district’s own annual report explains the arrangement: it holds tuition agreements with the Berkshire Hills Regional School District, running from 2023 to 2028, and with the Lee Public Schools, running from 2025 to 2028, for students in grades 7 through 12, and parents and students choose which of the two they attend. On the district’s October 2025 count, 15 Otis students were attending Berkshire Hills and 24 were attending Lee. Vocational school placements are handled by the student’s own town rather than by the district. The district contracts buses to both.
That is unusual and it is worth knowing before you look at any state figure for Otis: the numbers on the student data page describe an elementary district, not a K to 12 one.
The District at a Glance
- Enrollment: 105 students, preschool through grade 6.
- Schools: one, Farmington River Elementary School.
- Member towns: Otis and Sandisfield.
- State data: DESE profile (code 06620000).
Meetings & Participation
- When: monthly, generally on the first Monday evening at 7:00, in the Farmington River Elementary School library at 555 North Main Road.
- Agendas & minutes: numbered and posted on frrsd.org, and also carried on the town’s own School Committee page at otisma.gov.
- Public comment: the agenda carries a public comment item near the top of every meeting.
- Budget season: the committee holds a joint public budget hearing with the two member towns each spring before Town Meeting votes the school assessment.
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