PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The School Committee expects to take a vote on the middle school restructuring proposal by the end of June.

"I think that more people are feeling better about it," Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction, and Educational Engagement Matthew Bishop told the School Committee.

"I mean there’s still concerns, and I think we won’t assuage any of those concerns until we can get into some of those details around this is what the start time might be, this is what bussing would look like. There’s still some unknowns with that, and I think in the planning for this in the coming year, we would have to really get those details out there because those are things that people really, really want to know."

On Wednesday, feedback was presented from public input forums on May 5 at Reid Middle School and May 12 at Herberg Middle School. The proposal would create an upper elementary school for Grades 5-6 and a junior high school for Grades 7-8 by the 2026-2027 academic year.

Bishop reported that the biggest concern for families is the "logistical unknowns," such as transportation and scheduling. Parents also want to ensure that students will be safe.

Those who participated in the forums felt that additional attention was needed around teacher and student support and training, as well as training around instructional models.

"Balancing that though, is the themes that emerge from opportunities for students and participants really saw the opportunity for smaller community as well as expanded programming," Bishop said.

"And I think that was the biggest takeaway in terms of potential opportunities for these models was really programmatic and what these schools can do when you have a concentration such as the [grades] 5-6, 7-8."