Pittsfield School Building Commission Welcomes New Superintendent
PITTSFIELD, Mass.— The academic year has begun with a new superintendent of the Pittsfield Public Schools and the same focus on a couple of big projects.
Interim Superintendent Latifah Phillips was appointed as co-chair of the School Building Needs Commission on Tuesday, and commissioners looked to the future of the Crosby/Conte proposal.
Phillips stepped into the position on July 1 and has since met with the Massachusetts School Building Authority to discuss enrollment numbers.
"That is ongoing work. We intend to finalize the enrollment numbers at the end of October," she reported.
"And it was shared with us that once that number is finalized, that is the number for the next couple of decades, so it's really critical that number is done properly so that we can build a building that is right-sized for the community."
In June, the City Council supported borrowing up to $2 million for a feasibility study that gauges the possibility of rebuilding Silvio O. Conte Community School and John C. Crosby Elementary on the West Street site with shared facilities.
The study, estimated to cost about $1.5 million, is a part of the 80 percent reimbursable costs from the MSBA, which accepted the project into its queue late last year.
When the project was proposed, officials and community members toured the approximately 69,000-square-foot schools that are more than 50 years old. Crosby, built as a middle school, has cracked windows that were repaired with duct tape, and Conte is an open-concept school that doesn't align with modern safety and educational needs.
Phillips shared that she experienced the building of a new school facility while working as a chief of staff in San Jose, Calif. She reported that there was a lot of bond campaigning for the community funding match.
"So that was a lot of my role was making sure that the community was informed about the intention of the building, the opportunity for the community in the building," she said.
"And then once the building was being built, making sure that it was it was meeting the needs of the community."
She recalled that community feedback was quiet until bulldozers broke ground, and nearby residents were concerned about views being obstructed. This underscored the importance of communicating openly and frequently during a project, she explained.
The commission also discussed revising its charter, which must be approved by the mayor and City Council. Co-Chair Frank LaRagione explained that the new draft ordinance trims membership down to 15 five-year seats.
"I think the toughest part we're going to have is to go from, I think it's 21 that we have right now, to 15 after this, if that's what we decide," he said.
Running parallel to this effort is a restructuring of the middle schools.
At Phillips' first School Committee meeting with the district, it voted to create an upper elementary school for Grades 5-6 and a junior high school for Grades 7-8 by the 2026-2027 academic year. A stipulation was added that if goals in the Middle School Restructuring Committee's timeline are not met by the December meeting, it will be delayed one year.
Later that month, the committee decided that Herberg will house Grades 5-6 and Reid will be home to Grades 7-8 when the middle schools restructure.
Tags: Pittsfield Public Schools, school building committee,
