WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A week after Mount Greylock Regional High School was forced to lose a day and a half of school because of its outdated building, the district is closer to getting a new one.

 

The Mount Greylock Regional School District has been informed that the the Massachusetts School Building Authority will recommend at its Oct. 2 meeting that the district be invited to participate in the first phase of MSBA's process, according to a Thursday email to parents from Superintendent Rose Ellis.

 

The district, which issued its latest Statement of Interest to MSBA last spring would enter MSBA's "Eligibility Period," if the October meeting goes as anticipated, Ellis wrote.

 

"For now, I remain cautiously optimistic," Ellis wrote.

 

Ellis said she, School Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Greene and Building Committee Chairman Mark Schiek would attend the Oct. 2 meeting in Boston.

 

"The MSBA uses the Eligibility Period to determine whether a district is ready to manage and fund a capital project," Ellis wrote. "It also helps to determine a district’s financial and community readiness to enter the capital pipeline. This process culminates in the execution of the MSBA's Feasibility Study Agreement."

 

The MSBA is a quasi-independent government authority that partners with school districts to fund construction projects with revenue derived from 1 cent of the commonwealth's 6.25-cent sales tax.

 

Mount Greylock has attempted for years to enter the MSBA funding process. Last fall, it received encouragement during a visit from the MSBA's executive director.

 

Last week, the junior-senior high school was closed in the middle of the day on Wednesday and did not open on Thursday after high humidity created due to a heat wave created unsafe levels of moisture on the floors. Ellis noted at the time that the building's poor and antiquated design was a contributing factor in the moisture event.