PITTSFIELD, Mass. — State Sen. Paul Mark and state Sen. Robyn Kennedy of Worcester, chair for the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities, recently spent time visiting Berkshire County Arc's programs. Mark is also a member of the joint committee.
During their visit, they spent time discussing short- and long-term plans for human services in Massachusetts.
BCArc offers a broad range of community-based services to individuals with developmental disabilities, brain injuries and autism.
In the photo above, from left: Pam Kight, director of employment and community-based day services; Cybele Kilby, vice president of day & employment services; state Sen. Paul Mark; state Sen. Robyn Kennedy; President & CEO Maryann Hyatt; Erin Manson, Department of Developmental Services residential services director; CFO Blanca Durant; Jessica Russo, director of family support & advocacy; and Scott Barschdorf, director of brain injury services.
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Pittsfield Schools See Better Building Utilization, Continued Choice Outs
By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Students return to school in two weeks; Pittsfield will have one less elementary school and around 100 fewer students.
The School Committee was updated on enrollment for the 2026-2027 academic year during last week's regular meeting.
At this time, the Pittsfield Public Schools had 4,586 students, compared to 4,682 at the end of the 2025-2026 school year. Superintendent Latifah Phillips said this has been the district's trend for years and is not surprising.
"Across all of these grade levels, we have a decrease. I believe of about 80-90 students. I think it's at eighth grade that we're going to look into and make sure that our data is accurate," she said to the School Committee last week.
"But otherwise, the enrollment is following the trends that we have expected in probably the last decade."
With this school year comes the closure of Morningside Community School and the middle school restructuring that sends Grades 5-6 to Herberg Middle School and Grades 7-8 to Reid Middle School.
Fifth grade enrollment was subtracted from last year's elementary enrollment, and these reflect the reassignment of Morningside students to Allendale, Capeless, Egremont, and Williams.
Phillips pointed out that this process has increased the use of school buildings, as underutilized buildings were one of the concerns that led to institutional changes.
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