Pittsfield School Committee OKs Contracts, New Time-Out Regulations
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The School Committee held a special meeting last week to settle contracts for the new, institutionally different school year.
During a virtual meeting, members approved a contract with the Pittsfield Federation of School Employees for fiscal years 2026 to 2028, and a memorandum of agreement with the United Educators of Pittsfield for the new bell schedule.
The Pittsfield Federation of School Employees represents bus drivers and monitors, cafeteria and custodial staff, paraprofessionals, and secretaries.
For Pittsfield Public Schools, staff returns on Aug. 26 and students' first day is Aug. 31; pre-kindergarten and kindergarten begin school on Sept. 2. The district will have one less elementary school, as the committee voted to retire Morningside Community School earlier this year and reassigned students to Allendale, Capeless, Egremont, and Williams elementary schools, and a different middle grade model.
PPS now has an upper elementary and junior high school, with Grades 5 and 6 attending Herberg Middle School and Grades 7 and 8 attending Reid Middle School. This concept is also new to the 2026-2027 school year and has altered bell times, staffing, and transportation.
An MOA with the Pittsfield Educational Administrators Association for school assignment changes after the contractual timeline was tabled. It will be taken up at the next meeting with an executive session.
The School Committee also updated the district's policies and procedures for physical restraint, time-out, and seclusion to align with revised state regulations. It was adopted on the first reading.
"We're not proposing any changes that haven't been suggested per the law," Superintendent Latifah Phillips reported.
Special Education Director Melissa Brites wrote in a communication to the committee that the new requirements make important changes to the definitions, use, documentation, and oversight of time-out and seclusion.
Under this policy, time-out must be in an unlocked setting that the students can leave with appropriate staff observation and support, and there are specific safety requirements for time-out spaces.
The definition of seclusion has also been revised, and the new regulations establish a very limited emergency exception for it with increased safeguards such as continuous monitoring, documentation, parent notification, administrative review, and reporting.
The policy also requires schools and districts to regularly review restraint and emergency seclusion data and expand state-level reporting and oversight requirements on it.
Brites said what remains consistent is that physical restraint is a last resort, emergency intervention, and may not be used as punishment, discipline, staff convenience, or as a substitute for appropriate supports.
"The district's emphasis remains on prevention, de-escalation, positive behavioral supports, and maintaining the safety and dignity of students and staff," she wrote.
She explained that particular attention will be given to helping staff understand the distinction between time out and seclusion: If a student is not permitted to leave the space, the intervention is not considered a time out.
The full document can be found on the meeting agenda.
Tags: Pittsfield School Committee, teacher contract,
