Pittsfield Making Progress on MSBA Asks
PITTSFIELD, Mass.— The city is making progress with two funding requests to the Massachusetts School Building Authority.
On Wednesday, Sept. 23, the School Committee heard updates on two aspiring MSBA projects: renovations to Pittsfield High School and a rebuild and consolidation of Crosby Elementary and Conte Community School on West Street, also being referred to as the Westside school.
Pittsfield has been invited to a senior study process, or on-site evaluation, for PHS, and MSBA officials will visit next week, on Sept. 29, to discuss the statement of interest with city and school administration.
PHS has sat on East Street for nearly 100 years, and some concerns have been brought forward about the building's condition until improvements are complete. The School Committee has seen reports on the building's physical condition, which was described as "poor" and in need of restoration to its original character, as well as air and water quality.
A report done in collaboration with Atlas Technical Consultants and the Pittsfield Water Department details "acceptable" air and water readings in all tested locations.
School Committee member Ciara wants to see expanded testing, as indoor air quality sampling was done in a handful of rooms, and plans to connect with the building director about procuring additional testing.
Superintendent Latifah Phillips also reported that Pittsfield is looking at a January submission for the proposed Westside school's educational program. Pittsfield is seeking up to 80 percent reimbursement from the MSBA to rebuild and consolidate John C. Crosby Elementary and Silvio O. Conte Community School on the Crosby property.
"Part of that submission is visiting schools that have been recently built in the last couple of years. Schools that might share some of the academic programming that we're seeing in our current schools," Phillips said.
"There are four schools here that a team of us will be visiting again to not only look at their facility but how their facility is helping to move their educational program forward."
According to a preliminary design program presented by Skanska, the owner's project manager, preliminary cost estimates and the School Committee vote to select the enrollment will be in early 2027.
The city needs to know about how many children will attend the school before entering the schematic design phase. When reviewing a map that roughly estimated the attendance zones last year, concern arose when it was observed that Stearns Elementary, on Lebanon Avenue, is an outlier and would be absorbed into the new building.
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