Town Government
School Committee & Superintendent
The Superintendent
Dr. Melissa Matarazzo
About 721 students start their day in the Gateway Regional School District, and the person who answers for their schooling answers to six towns at once. Dr. Melissa Matarazzo is Superintendent of Gateway Regional, the district Russell joined in 1965 alongside Blandford, Chester, Huntington, Middlefield, and Montgomery. The district runs three schools, Chester Elementary and Littleville Elementary for the younger grades and Gateway Regional School for grades 6 through 12, and it spreads its students over more than 175 square miles of hill country. The Superintendent proposes the district budget, sets academic priorities, and is hired by and reports to the elected School Committee, which carries out an annual evaluation.
| Role | Superintendent of Schools, Gateway Regional School District |
|---|---|
| District office | 12 Littleville Road, Huntington, MA 01050 |
| Phone | 413-685-1000 |
| Website | grsd.org |
The School Committee
The Gateway Regional School Committee is a regional body of 15 seats, elected by the voters of the six member towns rather than by Russell alone. Thirteen seats are filled and two are open, one in Blandford and one in Montgomery. Russell holds three of the fifteen, and they are the seats a Russell voter marks: Alicia Hansen, Lyndsey Papillon, and Jennifer Pappas. The committee chooses its own officers from among the members, and the chair currently sits in a Chester seat and the vice chair in a Montgomery one. The committee sets school policy, approves the district budget that each town then has to fund, and hires and evaluates the Superintendent.
Jason Forgue
Peter DeGregorio
Alicia Hansen
Lyndsey Papillon
Jennifer Pappas
Full roster, terms and meeting schedule: Gateway Regional School Committee at grsd.org.
The District at a Glance
- Gateway Regional: 721 students, three schools, PreK through grade 12.
- Six towns: Blandford, Chester, Huntington, Middlefield, Montgomery, and Russell, founded in 1957.
- Per-pupil spending: $24,619.65 in total spending per student.
- State data: DESE profile (code 06720000).
Meetings & Participation
- When: the committee meets at 7 in the evening at the Gateway complex in Huntington, on a schedule the district publishes for the year.
- Public comment: residents may address the committee. Check the agenda for sign-up details.
- Agendas, minutes and policies: the district posts all three, plus its annual town-by-town census, on the School Committee page.
- The budget: Russell’s assessment for the district still lands at Town Meeting, where every registered voter can vote on it.
Curious how a bill becomes law, or how students can take on a civics project?