Trifecta of Pittsfield School Projects Moving Forward
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Pittsfield Public Schools are moving forward with a middle school restructuring, closing an elementary school, and proposing to build a new consolidated facility in the West Side.
Last Wednesday, the School Committee approved a $87,200,061 district budget for fiscal year 2027 with 13 schools and the transition to an upper elementary and junior high model.
"We believe that our important milestones are in place to be able to move forward with implementation, so we have some immediate next steps," interim Superintendent Latifah Phillips said about the middle school restructuring.
"Probably our top next step, after communicating with staff and our families, is moving on to the staff assignment process, and we are also continuing to evaluate our transportation routes to ensure the shortest rides possible for our students to our two citywide middle schools."
Late last year, the former committee voted to restructure Pittsfield's two middle schools in the fall, with Grades 5 and 6 attending Herberg Middle School and Grades 7 and 8 attending Reid Middle School. There had been a question of whether the shift could be done for the 2026-2027 academic year or not.
Middle school principals will soon visit elementary schools, and upcoming middle-grade students will tour Herberg and Reid.
During public comment, resident Paul Gregory said he understands the move is to improve students' academics and better prepare them for high school.
"I get it. I think the people of Pittsfield get it," he said.
"It's going to be a trial, and I think that we'll work through whatever challenges might come up."
School officials recently voted to close Morningside Community School at the end of the academic year, and the district is seeking funding from the Massachusetts School Building Authority to rebuild Conte Community School and Crosby Elementary School on West Street.
There was support for turning the former Morningside into a community center rather than a police station, which Mayor Peter Marchetti confirmed is one of the options for the building.
"I certainly hope it continues to be a community center for the people in Morningside, and I think that Morningside should certainly have input into what goes into that, and I also firmly believe it should not be a police station," resident Barbara Mahoney said.
"I mean, I would not want to live next to a police station, frankly."
Marchetti received a letter from a Morningside student about the school's closure, and that letter turned into a visit from him and the superintendent. He said this visit was one of the job's best moments, and the administration vowed to hold an assembly celebrating the school before it closes.
"We went back to class afterwards with a drawing that we drew about Morningside Community School and the areas of the school that could be open to the public," Marchetti explained.
"He put it on the overhead projector and shared it with the entire class. He told the class, 'Well, on this issue, we're going to lose because the ship sailed, but listen to this,' and he went through an entire, maybe five-minute presentation to the class."
There is a transition plan underway for Morningside students that will be reassigned to Allendale, Capeless, Egremont, and Williams elementary schools. Families have been contacted to see if they want to participate in the transition team, and three parents have responded so far.
Phillips said the transition plan will include school assignment and transportation, physical space, and before and after-school programming.
Attendance zones will be redrawn around natural boundaries, meaning that children on the same streets will go to school together. They are expected to be complete by the first week of June so that families know where their children will attend in the fall.
"This decision really centered on the best interest of students, and it is our commitment to know that our students are doing better, and so we will be prioritizing regular data review and monitoring of all students in the building," Phillips said.
"But in particular, we also want to make sure that the needs of our students leaving Morningside, that this is, in fact, helping to accelerate their growth in the new environment."
The district is also seeking funding from the Massachusetts School Building Authority to rebuild Conte Community School and Crosby Elementary School on West Street. A request for services draft for a designer is due to the MSBA by May 14 and will be reviewed at the School Building Needs Commission meeting on Monday.
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