Path cleared for regional school district

Berkley and Somerset in late June approved plans for creating a regional district for high school students.

Berkley students have attended Somerset High School on a tuition basis for many years, but there was no guarantee that Berkley would be able to send its students to Somerset indefinitely, according to Berkley School Superintendent Thomas Lynch.

In late 2006, Lynch proposed building a junior-senior high school in Berkley. Around that same time, Somerset expressed interest in building a new high school. The Massachusetts School Building Authority, meanwhile, made it clear that it would provide funding for a new school only if  it were shared by both towns, Lynch said.

The SBA has agreed to reimburse roughly two-thirds of the $46 million cost for the new school. That leaves Somerset responsible for $17.85 million, and Berkley responsible for $5.95 million, Lynch said.

In June, town meetings in both communities voted in favor of creating the regional district. But voters in Berkley also needed to approve a Proposition 2½ override that would generate $500,000 to fund the creation of the district.

The plan, meanwhile, is contingent on the two towns approving debt exclusions to help finance construction of the new high school. The regional school district will come into existence next year, regardless of the outcome of the debt-exclusion votes, which are expected to take place late this fall or in early winter, Lynch said.

An interim School Committee, with four representatives from each town, will be in place until the regional school district is formally created on July 1, 2011.

In March, voters in Ayer and Shirley approved a K-12 regional school district that also will go into effect in 2011.