History of Regionalization

The 2007 annual town meetings in Ayer and Shirley established a Regional Planning Committee in each community. By law, the town moderator appointed the three members. One of the members had to be a sitting member of each School Committee. Initially, Ayer and Shirley were joined in these discussions by Lunenburg. Consistent with Chapter 71 of the Massachusetts General Laws, the three local Committees met and in May of 2007 voted to merge into a single Regional Planning Board to investigate the challenges and benefits of forming a school region. By law, the RPB’s job is to study and make a recommendation about forming a region to the Boards of Selectmen. If a school region is recommended, the Board must submit a regional agreement with the recommendation. A region can only be established by majority vote of each of the members’ town meetings.

The three town RPB met consistently over a two plus year period and reached consensus on a regional agreement and voted to bring a favorable recommendation forward to each local Board of Selectmen. However, this recommendation was tied to a commitment from the state of $1.8 million to support an efficient, successful transition period which would lead to the formation of a region.

When the current economic crisis occurred, the funding support disappeared. As a result, the three town model was never brought to town meeting. At this point, the Ayer and Shirley members decided to continue their work to investigate a two town merger. The results of that effort are presented here for your interest and review. The two town Regional Planning Board reached similar conclusions regarding the feasibility and advisability of a region and is preparing to engage the public in a conversation which will ultimately lead to votes at special town meetings.

In seperate town meetings, on March 6, 2010, the communities in Ayer and Shirley voted in support of forming a two-town regional school district.

What's New?

APS District Calendar

AS Middle School Calendar

Visit the ASRSD Facebook page

Join the ASRSD Listserv to receive email updates

Common Core Standards Initiative

"Race to the Top" Grants

Sept. 7 - Ayer/Shirley Regional School Committee Meeting
7 PM Page-Hilltop Professional Development Room, Ayer
Agenda (PDF)

Sept. 22 - Ayer/Shirley Regional School Committee Meeting
7 PM Shirley Middle School Library, Shirley

Future Meetings

Last Updated on 7 September 2010
Site Map