Pittsfield School Committee Updated on Middle Restructuring, Morningside Closure
PITTSFIELD, Mass.— The Pittsfield Public Schools will have a different middle-level structure and one less elementary school in the 2026-2027 school year.
On Wednesday, Interim Superintendent Latifah Phillips delivered updates on these efforts.
"We've got a lot of change happening in our school district, a lot of work happening leading up to the end of the school year and over the summer," she explained.
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.
One of the top priorities for middle school restructuring is staff assignments. Phillips reported that the Human Resources department has taken a "tremendous" effort to support teachers with their grade 5-8 assignments.
"The teacher is the most impactful school-based input in student success, and so I really want to make sure that as we support our students, we're also supporting our staff as we make plans for next school year," she explained.
Classrooms also need to be packed and physically moved, and the district has communicated with families about move-up ceremonies for upcoming fifth graders.
Start and end times are also important factors, as well as student visits to Herberg and Reid. Phillips said it is important to give students another opportunity to visit the schools now that a decision has been made to restructure in the fall, and that they meet principals before the first day of school.
The district needed to know that students could be effectively transported with the middle school realignment, and through a 3-tiered route, they would be on the bus for a maximum of 45 minutes.
"We know we can do it within about 45 minutes. If we can find more efficiencies between now and the next couple of months, we will communicate that," Phillips said.
Last month, School officials voted to close Morningside Community School at the end of the academic year, and a transition plan is underway for Morningside students that will be reassigned to Allendale, Capeless, Egremont, and Williams elementary schools.
Student and staff assignments are taking priority in this process. The district is reviewing its policies on attendance areas and walkers and riders as it works to reassign Morningside students.
"It's important for us to revisit our transportation, the criteria for bus transportation, see who qualifies, who doesn't. How is that different from a student's current situation," Phillips said.
"...It's really important to us that our students can get to school, and that's our commitment, that we are going to get students to school."
Forums on three proposed attendance zones for Morningside students will be held on May 19 at 3:30 p.m., May 20 at 9 a.m., and May 20, at 7:30 p.m. At the end of the month, there will be a public hearing on the zones before the School Committee votes on them.
PPS’s intra-school transfer process has been on hold, as "It's important for us to first identify how many students will be going to each of our four receiving schools, and then how much additional space we will have," Phillips explained.
She shared that there will be limited spaces available this year, aside from Crosby Elementary School and Stearns Elementary School, which currently have space available.
The district is also seeking funding from the Massachusetts School Building Authority to rebuild Conte Community School and Crosby Elementary School on West Street.
Tags: Pittsfield School Committee, school restructuring,
