Around Massachusetts, Monday is the start of the new school year in many districts. That includes Holyoke Public Schools, which for the first time in a decade begins the year under local control.
In 2015 the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education took over the district because of chronic student under performance.
At a well attended meet-and-greet last week at Holyoke's E.N. White Elementary School, parent Christina Schilling said as her son gets ready to attend kindergarten, she hadn't really been thinking about the district's status in receivership or local control.
"Not in particular," Schilling said. "Sam's a true covid baby, so it was just a matter of getting through that really difficult time and here we are five years later [going into kindergarten], and I'm really excited and he is too."
Other parents at the school event said they weren't expecting to see any changes as a result of the end of the decade state takeover.
"As long as they're doing right by the children, they're good," said Jason Maldonado, who was with his family, making their way from the gymnasium, possibly toward ice cream.
Likewise, Rochelly Maldonado said the return to local control wasn't on her mind. Her family is very supportive of the schools, she said, and the teachers.
"My husband was raised in Holyoke," Maldonado said. "So we're always going to be part of the local Holyoke Public Schools, as long as we can."
Greeting families right at the entrance of the building was E.N. White Principal Amy Burke.
"All of these families and all these kids come back and its always a fresh start," Burke said.
Even with the end of the state receivership, Burke said she expects everything in her building to stay the same for now. Her focus, she said, is on the school's own culture, and teaching and learning.
"We're still really trying to create a sense of community, a sense of belonging here at the school. We're still really still focused on high levels of instruction," Burke said.
That includes using the district's current literacy curriculum, which Burke said has been the same for the past three years.
"We've seen steady increases and I think [the district ] is headed in the right direction," Burke said. "So as far as I'm concerned, just making sure we're allowed to continue to go in that positive direction."
Any change in curriculum would now happen by district decision makers, as opposed to when the schools were under state receivership.
Holyoke's Interim School Superintendent Anthony Soto, who became the state-appointed receiver in 2021, said he doesn't anticipate any significant changes in the classroom this year.
The top priority Soto said is continuing high quality instruction in the classroom.
"Some of our diverse learners haven’t made as much progress as we’d like and we want to make sure that when our teachers are planning their lessons and reviewing data, that we take a deeper look into what do our students with disabilities need, what do our English language learners need," Soto said.
This year's priorities also include continuing to address chronic absenteeism, a problem still in many school districts.
One ongoing issue has been teacher retention.
After attending a recent new-teacher orientation Soto said he is optimistic, but he knows the district has a lot of work to do.
"We'd love to make sure that people come here and work in Holyoke, and stay here for a very long time," Soto said, "It just hasn't been been a reality for the last ten years."
For some teachers, staying will depend on their next contract, under negotiation. (During receivership a contract established in 2022 was extended through June 2026. )
This too is on the superintendent's calendar, the first week of school in Holyoke.
Even with the end of the receivership, the state still has a say in teacher compensation and benefits, among the "exit assurances," frustrating the the Holyoke Teachers Association.
Last spring the HTA said the state ignored their repeated attempts to explain to them "why these provisions are harmful to both staff and students in Holyoke."
