BMC Parking Garages, Access Roads Limited During 4th of July Events

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PITTSFIELD, Mass.— Berkshire Medical Center announced there will be limited public access to its two parking garages during the events occurring in Pittsfield on July 4th and that some roadway access to the medical center will be closed by law enforcement during the Pittsfield Fourth of July Parade.
 
During the parade, the hospital's employee parking garage will be open to the public, but it will be closed that evening and unavailable for public parking to view the laser light show at Wahconah Park. In addition, the BMC visitor parking deck, located right next to the main hospital building and the Medical Arts Complex, will be closed to general public parking for both the Fourth of July Parade and the fireworks. 
 
In North Berkshire, the parking garage at the North Adams Campus of BMC will also be closed the night of the Fourth.
 
The visitor parking garage at BMC's main campus will only be available for BMC employees and for people visiting patients who are hospitalized. In order to access that garage on the Fourth of July, BMC employees must present their BMC ID badges, and visitors coming to see patients must inform the security officer at the entrance to the deck who will they be visiting in the hospital.

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Pittsfield School Committee OKs $82M Budget, $1.5M Cuts

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The school budget is less grim than the original proposal but still requires more than $1.5 million in cuts.

On Thursday, the School Committee approved an $82.8 million spending plan for fiscal year 2025, including a city appropriation of $80.4 million and $2.4 million in Chapter 70 funds.

The cuts made to balance the budget include about 50 staff reductions — some due to the sunsetting of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds.

"The final version does not answer all needs. It will be unacceptable to some or to many but I must say that tonight's final proposal is very different than where we started when we believed we would have a $3,600,000 reduction. I want to assure everyone that every effort has been made to minimize the impact on both students, families, and staff members while also ensuring that our district has the necessary resources to progress forward," Superintendent Joseph Curtis said.

"Nevertheless, there are incredibly passionate, dedicated staff members who will not be with us next year. This pains me as I've been a part of this organization for now 30 years so I want to assure everyone that our team, this has weighed very heavily in our hearts, this entire process. This is not a group of people that is looking at a spreadsheet saying ‘Well that can go and this can go’ and take that lightly."

Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Kristen Behnke and other officials worked with the state Department of Secondary and Elementary Education to rectify an error in the Chapter 70 funding formula, recognized 11 more low-income students in the district, and added an additional $2.4 million to the FY25 budget.

Curtis commented that when he first saw the governor’s FY25 budget, he was "rather stunned."

"The extraordinary circumstances we face this budget season by the conclusion of the substantial ESSER federal grant and a significant reduction in Chapter 70 allotment caused challenges for this team and our school principals and our educators and our staff that have been nothing short of all-consuming," he said.

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