NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The task force looking at middle and high school regionalization is going back out to bid for a consultant after both remaining bids came in over budget.

 

The Northern Berkshire Regionalization Study Steering Committee opened the bids on Wednesday night, with Vaysen Studio of Syracuse, N.Y., bidding $213,400 and the joint bid of Academic Discoveries of Boylston and The Management Solution of Auburn at $172,000.

 

Both came in higher than the $125,000 the committee has available.

 

After some discussion, the committee, meeting at McCann Technial School, voted unanimously to retool the request for proposals and send it back out to bid.

 

"To me, it's as simple as that. The price has exceeded the available funding, and now we're going to create something that has smaller scope so that, so that it can fit," said Mount Greylock Regional Schools Superintendent Joseph Bergeron. "And then that means, hopefully, you're just deducting from the work you already got through, rather than trying to do something completely different."

 

The group is charged with overseeing a study of secondary education in North Berkshire and includes Mount Greylock, North Adams Public Schools, Hoosac Valley Regional School District and the five member districts of the North Berkshire School Union. The consultant will look at the educational and financial aspects, as well as such areas as special education, enrollment, transportation and long-term sustainability.

 

The initiative is an outgrowth of declining enrollment and rising costs. For example, Drury High and Hoosac Valley High together graduated 116 seniors last year; in 2008, Drury alone graduated 133.