Saturday, February 24, 2024 | Making The Grade 2024
EAGLE FILE PHOTO
Monument Mountain Regional High School, built in 1968, will receive a long-overdue rehabilitation or replacement — district officials recently chose an architect and designer for the project.
SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION PROPOSAL
After merger fails, Monument goes it alone By Heather Bellow
The Berkshire Eagle | BerkshireEagle.com
The Berkshire Eagle
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It appeared a hopeful breakthrough four years ago when two neighboring school districts began merger talks after decades of more informal and sporadic discussions. But after three years of research and number-crunching – and much hot debating – the talks frayed and voters shot down a consolidation plan. Now, the Berkshire Hills and Southern Berkshire regional school districts are continuing as they were before. The idea of an eight-town school district was laid to rest, at least, after the effort was made. Here’s what happened. In 2019 those merger talks were made official with the birth of the 8 Town Regional School District Planning Board. The 24-member panel did a deep-dive into every aspect of both districts and the schools. With the expertise of educator and consultant Jake Eberwein, the board studied population and economic
trends, transportation routes and costs, as well as a host of other data, and found that student headcounts had been declining and would continue to fall. With flat state aid and bigger school budgets, the board said, continuing on the same path would further burden rural towns with higher school costs and taxes – the primary driver of merger talks to begin with. Over time, rural schools hollowed out by shrinking populations would also limit student access to educational programs, according to the board’s research. The data, the board concluded, pointed to a merger as the best way forward for financial and educational health of the schools, students and South County towns. The plan placed before voters in all eight towns was to merge the two districts and the two high schools – Mount Everett in Sheffield, and Monument Mountain in Great Barrington. All high school students would attend a freshly overhauled Monument High, under the plan, and
the elementary and middle schools would remain as they are. Such a move would, the panel said, save at least $1.2 million a year in education costs. But voters didn’t bite. Opposition was fierce among residents, parents and officials in the Southern Berkshire towns. Some poked holes in the board’s research and disagreed with their assessments and findings. They feared the loss of what they said is a unique and cherished school culture, particularly at Mount Everett high. “Our high school is alive,” said Ellen Maggio, a longtime resident whose three adult daughters attended Mount Everett and district schools, speaking at Egremont’s special town meeting before the vote. “We don’t need a new high school. We have a high school.” Parents also pointed to the benefits of smaller class size. The school community fretted over a loss of control, worrying that education and culture would become Berkshire Hills-centric — wiping out their own.
And they accused those favoring the plan of trying to railroad it in. Some also alleged that Berkshire Hills only wanted a merger because it would result in more state money for the coming overhaul of Monument Mountain High. When eight special town meetings came around in October, voters from only one of the Southern Berkshire district’s five towns — Alford — agreed to merge. After the votes, 8 Town Board Chair Lucy Prashker painted a bleak picture for the future. “The challenges remain unsolved,” she said. “The challenges of low and declining enrollment, the increasing burdens those declines place on our taxpayers, and, most importantly, the limiting of choices and opportunities for our children.” Prashker said leaders who opposed the plan should come forward with alternatives. Alford subsequently flirted with the possibility of joining the Berkshire Hills district, which also includes the towns of Stockbridge and
