WCMA to Hold Community Forum on New Museum Building's Sustainability Goals

08:13AM / Wednesday, April 23, 2025Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) will host a community forum regarding its new museum building project on Monday, April 28, at 6:00 p.m.

The event will be held at the Williams Inn Ballroom.

The forum will focus on the sustainability objectives of the new building, featuring presentations on the Williams College Sustainable Project Policy and the planned sustainable design features of the new WCMA. These features include the aim to meet the Living Building Challenge of the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) and the use of mass timber for the building's structural components.

The event will also provide general updates on the ongoing construction project and include a question-and-answer session for the audience.

The new Williams College Museum of Art is intended to serve Williams College, the local community, and visitors to the Berkshires. The design of the new museum is reportedly student-focused, aiming to create a sense of belonging for campus members and the wider community, and an inclusive experience for all visitors. The building will offer increased gallery space for displaying more of the museum’s 15,000-piece collection, as well as facilities for improved access to collections for student, faculty, and visiting scholar requests, and additional object study classrooms.

Those interested in attending are encouraged to RSVP at https://forms.office.com/e/qA3KnFizyp.

Further information can be found at artmuseum.williams.edu.

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Mount Greylock School Committee Hears Budget Requests, Pressures

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:32AM / Wednesday, February 18, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee Thursday heard the final rounds of fiscal year 2027 budget requests and heard why those — or any — discretionary increases in spending will be difficult in the year that begins July 1.

Williamstown Elementary Principal Benjamin Torres and middle-high school Principal Jake Schutz each presented the spending priorities formulated by their respective school councils. The requests followed a presentation by Lanesborough Elementary Principal Nolan Pratt at the January meeting.

Superintendent Joseph Bergeron then told the School Committee that state and federal aid to the district is going to be slightly lower than FY26 and reminded the panel that the district spent the last two years spending down its reserve accounts, as requested by the member towns, to the point where those reserves — School Choice, tuition and excess and deficiency — cannot be applied to the operating budget.

"Spending the exact same amount of money from this year to next year — that alone will mean a 4 percent increase [in appropriations] to each of our towns," Bergeron said. "That's the baseline on top of which everything else will happen.

"We know we're seeing an 8.75 percent increase in health insurance, but we also have an increasing number of employees who are taking our health insurance, so that health insurance line is increasing substantially. When it comes to out-of-district tuition as well as transportation, both of those are seeing marked increases as well."

District staff and the School Committee will further refine its FY27 budget over the next five weeks, with a budget workshop scheduled for Tuesday, March 3, and a public hearing and final budget vote on March 19.

The district's appropriations to Williamstown and Lanesborough, which each pay a proportional share of the prekindergarten-Grade 12 district's operating expenses, will face an up-or-down vote at each town's annual meeting, in May and June, respectively.

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