image description — Stearns Elementary has been excluded from the conversations regarding the consolidation of Conte and Crosby schools and will not be part of that project but may be included in the feasibility study in terms of long-range plans.

Stearns Not Currently Included in Pittsfield's Crosby/Conte Proposal

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:56AM / Friday, September 19, 2025Print Story | Email Story

Stearns is in the zone with Conte and Crosby in the 'three zone' map presented at the last meeting but officials say this does not indicate it will be merged as the zones are not specific.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Stearns Elementary School was not included in Crosby/Conte planning documents sent to the Massachusetts School Building Authority.

This was clarified on Wednesday, before the School Committee endorsed the district and MSBA’s examination of a three-zone, long-term option for reorganizing and consolidating the elementary level.

"MSBA is not moving forward at this time with a feasibility study that includes any consolidation except the possibility of merging Conte and Crosby at the new school," Chair William Cameron reported after a discussion with the funding authority.

"That said, MSBA is not averse to having discussions, as part of the feasibility study, of what it would take to realize an objective such as this over an extended period, with the consolidation of Conte and Crosby being the first stage in a multi-stage process."

The Pittsfield Public Schools are seeking funding for a rebuild and consolidation of John C. Crosby Elementary and Silvio O. Conte Community School on the Crosby property. MSBA is a quasi-independent government entity that helps fund the construction of school buildings.

At the last meeting, concern arose when it was observed that Stearns Elementary, on Lebanon Avenue, is an outlier and would be absorbed into the new building. The map is based on a rough estimation of the attendance zones, and has been presented at meetings over the past year and a half.

Cameron said the three zones are not essential to the plan.

"It could be any number of zones, actually, but we'd like to have an opportunity to discuss with them as the funders for whatever it is that we're talking about long term, how what we're planning to do in the next, say, two or three years, could fit into a larger-scale, longer-term project," he explained.

Interim Superintendent Latifah Phillips reported that they have until Oct. 31 to validate enrollment numbers for Crosby and Conte. She said the MSBA is "very clear" that the conversation right now is about combining those two schools.

"And then during the feasibility study, if we provide a letter that we are intending to look at a future redistricting of the district, and we'd like that to be included in the dialogue of the feasibility plan, they will consider it," she added.

Cameron, taking responsibility, said some people may have left the last meeting with the impression that "it’s a done deal that Stearns is in this consolidation model."

"It isn't," he said.

"… Other options may be discussed. There may or may not be a plan emerge, but the intent was certainly not to drop something on people without laying any foundation for where we're going, and I think that impression may have been left, and I want to dispel that. The plan that MSBA is going to work with us on, and that we sought their assistance with, is only for those two schools."

Committee member William Garrity said the motion gives them the flexibility, as promised when the project began, to have the feasibility study examine this further.

Vice Chair Daniel Elias said this will put some people’s minds at ease, "and I'm glad that it played out this way, and we're taking a vote tonight on a little different measure."

Tags: Crosby/Conte project, MSBA, Pittsfield Public Schools,

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Berkshire DA Releases Victim's Name in Fatal Police Shooting

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
02:02PM / Friday, January 09, 2026

An image Biagio Kauvil posted to his Instagram page in happier days.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Biagio Kauvil's family had attempted to secure mental health resources for him before a well-being check on Wednesday that turned deadly.

On Friday, District Attorney Timothy Shugrue identified Kauvil, 27, as the man who was killed by police in a shooting incident at 53 Off South St. on Jan. 7. The New York resident, he said, was expressing "paranoid delusional" thoughts on social media, and in calls to the FBI's National Threat Operation Center and local 911 leading up to the incident.

"This is a horrific scene, and there is a deceased person, and it's a very sad situation. It was a mental health situation," Shugrue said during a press conference at his office around noon, right after he had spoken to Kauvil's family.

The DA elaborated on details provided the prior day, though there are still many questions unanswered, and the investigation remains active. He declined to respond to queries about the officers' decision to breach the bedroom door the man was sequestered behind, details about the approximately 46-second struggle that resulted in Kauvil being shot in the head, or if an officer would be charged for the fatality.

Police say Hinsdale Sgt. Dominick Crupi was shot in the hand by Kauvil, the bullet going through and striking Police Chief Shawn Boyne in his bulletproof vest. Crupi was also shot in the elbow by another officer. He was released from Albany, N.Y., Medical Center on Friday.

Shugrue said his office will not be releasing the names of the officers involved, although he acknowledged that they have been named on social media and elsewhere. He is "not even near" ready to say if an officer will be charged.

"I'm only here today because there's a lot of rumors going around the community. I wanted to straighten that out," he said, clarifying that Kauvil was not wanted by the FBI.

"… I'm sorry I can't give you more information than that, but I really want to be clear about what we know at this stage. But again, this may change once we — I haven't seen the ballistics, I haven't seen the autopsy report. There's a lot of stuff I don't have yet, but I just felt the public deserved to know as quickly as possible what transpired, especially in light of what's happening nationally."

This is the third police shooting in Berkshire County in nearly four years that involved someone in mental distress. Miguel Estrella, 22, was shot and killed on March 25, 2022, at the intersection of Woodbine Avenue and Onota Street in Pittsfield; Phillip Henault, 64, was shot and killed at his Hancock home on Sept. 9, 2023.

In both cases, investigators cleared the officers as both men had advanced on police armed with knives and threatening them.

Based on the investigation so far, there were no mental health co-responders on site. Shugrue doesn't believe the officers knew Kauvil was armed, and cited the lack of mental health resources in the community.

"I hope one thing that comes out of this is that we can talk more about legislative work that needs to be done. We can talk about resources that need to be given to mandate that we have mental health professionals working with police officers and working with individuals that are on the street that haven't been able to get the services that they need," he said.

"And this is unfortunate. I know, speaking to the family, they tried to get services for him. Unfortunately, there's not a lot available, and there's not a lot available in the Berkshires."

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